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V 















THE 



EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY 



J. L.DAG G 

If 



MACON, Geo.: 
J. W. BURKE & CO. 

PPIILADELPHIA : CLAXTOX, REMSEX & HAFFELFIXGER. 
18 69. 

7T 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by 

J. W. BURKE & CO., 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and 
for the Southern District of Georgia. 



The Library 
of Congress 



WASHINGTON 



i 

o 

r 

PREFACE 



This volume aims to exhibit the evidences of 
Christianity in a clear and comprehensive view, 
and in the order best adapted to produce con- 
viction in common minds. It directs the first 
and chief attention to the Bible, investigates its 
character, and obtains proof of its divine origin, 
first from obvious and well-known facts, and after- 
wards from less accessible sources of information. 

Many able writers on the subject give the first 
and chief place to the historical evidences, and 
regard the other evidences as merely subsidiary. 
The historical evidences require for their full 
development a laborious search into the records 
and monuments of antiquity. Few men have 
the opportunity and ability to perform this labor. 
Hence the student of the evidences feels com- 
l 0) 



11 PREFACE. 

pelled to receive his proofs at second hand, and 
to content himself with a degree of conviction 
inferior to that which would result from personal 
investigation. 

In arranging the historical evidences, it has 
been usual to begin with establishing the authen- 
ticity of the Scripture books, and on this to found 
the argument for their credibility. This method 
is liable to a grave objection, on account of the 
obscurity that rests on the authorship of some of 
the books. The foundation of the argument 
ought to be undoubted truth, in order that the 
conclusion may be received with unhesitating and 
unwavering faith. 

The method adopted in this work, founds the 
first arguments on facts of which all men of ordi- 
nary information have knowledge. It begins 
with noticing some prominent singularities of the 
Bible, discoverable by common observation, and 
the aid of commonly received history ; and these 
it notices, not so much for. the sake of argument, 
as of inducement to enter on the study with ear- 
nestness. We judge of a man's character by 
what he does ; and the method here adopted 
begins the inquiry into the character of the Bible, 
by an examination of what it has done in the 



PREFACE. iii 

world. The first direct argument for the di- 
vinity of its origin is founded on its beneficial 
effects. After having contemplated the streams 
of blessings which flow from the Bible, our atten- 
tion is next directed to an examination of the 
source from which they emanate. We open the 
book itself, and find that it teaches a perfect rule 
of morality, illustrated by a perfect example; 
and also a system of doctrine which cannot be of 
human origin. From these facts the divine 
origin of the book is established, by arguments 
with which every reader's mind may directly 
grapple. All these subjects are disposed of before 
the history contained in the Bible is considered ; 
and then no higher respect is demanded for its 
historical truthfulness, than is due to other well- 
received works of ancient history ; but its right 
to this degree of confidence is established by an 
amount of testimony which cannot be adduced in 
favor of any other historical record of antiquity. 
To make good so low a claim to credibility is 
very far short of what is due to the sacred histo- 
rians; yet it suffices for the argument at this 
point of its progress, since it fully prepares for 
the next two chapters, which treat of prophecy 
and miracles. These two chapters complete the 



IV PREFACE. 

entire argument, which is cumulative, and con- 
sists of five independent arguments, drawn from 
the effects of the Bible, its morality, its doctrines, 
its prophecies, and its miracles. These five argu- 
ments are presented separately in Chapters II., 
III., IV., VI., and VII., to which the other five 
chapters of the work are subsidiary. 

The tenth chapter, which shows the harmony 
between revelation and science, is chiefly designed 
to preserve the minds of young students from the 
scepticism which an imperfect knowledge of sci- 
ence is liable to engender. 

In presenting the historical evidences, I have 
made free use of Lardner's work on the Credibility 
of the Gospel History, which is so valuable that 
no one who is ignorant of the results of his labors, 
can be said to have thoroughly studied the evi- 
dences of Christianity. In stating the argument, 
I have preferred not to encumber it with long 
citations of testimonies ; but have thought it 
better to place these separately in an appendix, 
in which all the most important testimonies that 
Lardner's labors have brought to light, are 
exhibited in some form. Sometimes the whole 
testimony is given in Lardner's translation of the 
original author's words; at other times such 



PREFACE. V 

extracts are made as sufficiently indicate the 
character and purport of the testimony, and in 
the remaining cases the substance of the testi- 
mony is given, generally in Lardner's words. 
The reader who has not access to Lardner's great 
work, or time to read it, will here find presented 
to him in the compass of a few sections, the sub- 
stantial results of that learned author's researches. 
Much other matter will be found in the appendix, 
rendering it a store-house of valuable information, 
to which the student may refer for facts to con- 
firm his faith. 

In looking over the following pages it will be 
seen that, though the references to Scripture are 
numerous, but few passages from the sacred vol- 
ume are quoted at length. Regard to brevity 
rendered this omission necessary. Since in many 
cases the argument cannot be understood without 
a careful study of the Scriptures referred to, the 
reader who is not well acquainted with the Bible, 
will find it necessary to keep the holy volume 
near him for the sake of constant appeal to it. 
For the labor of finding and studying the pas- 
sages, he will be more than compensated, by the 
habit of searching the Scriptures, and by the 



VI PREFACE. 



increased familiarity which he will acquire with 
divine truth. 

How far the method of discussion here adopted 
may be approved by others, I know not ; but it 
is that in which my own mind approaches and 
contemplates the subject with the highest satis- 
faction. In prosecuting the investigation after 
this method, I see with my own eyes ; and after 
having completed it, my own feet feel the ground 
firm beneath me. We are all passing, one by 
one, to a world which human intelligence has 
never explored, and of which the Bible gives 
the only information that we can obtain. In 
illuminating our way to that world, the Bible, like 
the sun in the heavens, so shines upon us that it 
reveals its character by its own light ; and every 
one who will, may with his own vision, walk by 
this light, without trusting a fellow-traveller to 
lead him by the hand. May the glorious efful- 
gence of divine truth emanating from the Bible, 
banish all darkness of ignorance or doubt from 
the mind of every reader, and guide his steps in 
the way of peace and holiness to life eternal! 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION. 
Christianity is the Religion op the Bible, 



PAGB 

13 



CHAPTER I 



Prominent Singularities, 
Sec. 1. Antiquity, 
" 2. Nationality, 
" 3. Respect obtained, 
" 4. Character claimed, 



CHAPTER II 



Beneficial Effects, 
Sec. 1. On Morals, 
41 2. On Happiness, . 
" 3. Objection answered, 



CHAPTER III 



Perfect Morality, 

Sec. 1. Perfect Precept, . 
" 2. Perfect Example, 



CHAPTER IV, 

Superhuman Doctrine, . 

Sec. 1. Superiority to Man's Invention, 
" 2. Adaptedness to Man, . 
** 3. Completeness of System, 
" 4. Connection with Morality, . 
" 5. Beneficial Tendency, . 
" 6. Experimental Proof, . 
" 7. Connection with Historical Facta, 



42 
42 
53 



(7) 



Vlll 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER V. 



Truthful History, 

Sec. 1. Credibility of History, 

" 2. Gospel History, . 

" 3. Testimony of the Church, 

" 4. Written Records, 

" 5. Christian Fathers, 

" 6. Heathen Testimony, . 

" 7. Jewish Testimony, 

" 8. Incidental Confirmation, 

" 9. Internal Proof, . 

" 10. Monumental Proof, 

" 11. Conclusion, . 



CHAPTER VI 

Prophecy, . . . 
Sec. 1. General View, . 
" 2. The Messiah, 
" 3. The Hebrew Nation, 
" 4. Ancient Cities, . 

Nineveh, 

Babylon, . 

Tyre, 
" 5. Tribes and Kingdoms, 
" 6. The Papacy, 
" 7. Christ's Predictions, 
" 8. Revelation of John, 

Changes in. the Roman Empire, 

Downfall of the Empire, 

The Reformation, 

The Papal Power, 

Passing and Future Events, 
" 9. Date of the Prophecies, 



CHAPTER VII. 



Miracles, ...... 

Sec. 1. Credibility of Miracles, 
" 2. Propagation of Christianity, 
" 3. Miracles of Christ and his Apostles, 
" 4. Attestation given by these Miracles, 
" 5. Old Testament Miracles, 
" 6. Objection answered, 
" 7. Mahometanism not attested by Miracles 



CONTENTS. 



IX 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Authenticity, ; 

Sec. 1. New Testament, 
" 2. Old Testament, , 
" 3. Preservation, 



PAGE 
197 

197 
205 
206 



CHAPTER IX. 



Inspiration, . 

Sec. 1. Plenary Inspiration, 
" 2. Old Testament, . 
" 3. New Testament, . 
" 4. Mode of Inspiration, 
" 5. Objections to Plenary Inspiration, 



212 
212 
214 
215 

222 
222 



CHAPTER X 



Harmony with Science, . 
Sec. 1. Geography, 
" 2. Natural History, 
" 3. Copernican System of Astronomy 
" 4. Geology, .... 
" 5. Plurality of Worlds, . 
" 6. Unity of the Human Race, . 



231 
233 
235 
237 
239 
254 
262 



APPENDIX 



CHAPTER I. 

Historical Evidences, .... ... 271 

Sec. 1. Dr. Lardner, . . 271 

" 2. Agreement of New Testament History with Jewish and 

Pagan Writings, 272 

I. Princes and Governors, ..... 273 
II. State of the Jews in Judea during the Ministry 

of our Saviour and his Apostles, . . . 276 

III. State of the Jews out of Judea, . . . 2S0 

IV. Jewish Sects and the Samaritans, . . . 280 
V. Expectations of the Jews and Samaritans and 

their ideas of the Messiah, .... 281 

VI. The Corruption of the Jewish People, . . 282 

VII. Circumstances of our Saviour's Last Sufferings, . 282 

VIII. Treatment of Christians by Jews and Gentiles, . 284 

IX. Opinions and Practices of the Jews, . . . 284 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

X. Roman Customs, 286 

XI. Three Remarkable Facts, .... 287 

XII. Alleged Disagreements, ..... 287 

Sec. 3. Christian Testimonies, ...... 292 

Barnabas, 293 ; Clement, 294; Hermas, 295 ; Ignatius, 
295; Polycarp, 296; Polycarp's Martyrdom, 296; 
Observations on the Apostolical Fathers, 296; 
Evangelists in the reign of Trajan, 297; Papias, 
297; Justin Martyr, 300; The Epistle to Diognetus, 
301; Tatian, 301; The Epistle of the Churches of 
Vienna and Lyons, 301 ; Irengeus, 301 ; Athenago- 
ras, 303 ; Theophilus, 303 ; Clement of Alexandria, 
303; Tertullian, 303; Caius, 305; Origen, 306; Dio- 
nysius, 307; Cyprian, 308; Lactantius, 308; Alexan- 
der, 308; Constantine, 308; Eusebius, 309; Atha- 
nasius, 311; The Council of Laodicea, 311; Jerom, 
312; Augustine, 314; Chrysostom, 315; Salvian, 
315; General Review, 315; Recapitulation, 316. 
" 4. Jewish Testimonies, . . . . . . 317 

" 5. Heathen Testimonies, ....... 319 

Tacitus, 319 ; Suetonius, 321 ; Pliny, 321 ; Trajan, 321; 
Epictetus, 324; Celsus, 324; Lucian, 326; Diogenes 
Laertius, 326; Dion Cassius, 327; Porphyry, 327; 
Hierocles, 328; Diocletian's Persecution, 329; Ju- 
lian, 330 ; Libanius, 331 ; Zosimus, 332. 

" 6. Testimony of Heretics, 332 

Basilides, 333; Carpocrates, 333; Cerinthus, 333; 
Marcion, 333; Lucian, 334; The Montanists, 334. 
" 7. Testimony of Monuments, ...... 335 

Coins and Medals, ....... 335 

Catacombs, ........ 336 

" 8. Internal Proof, 340 

" 9. Old Testament History, 346 

Creation and Deluge, 346; Babel, 348; Origin of Na- 
tions, 348; Genesis xiv. 2-12, 349; Exodus of the 
Israelites, 349 ; Modern Discoveries confirming the 
Pentateuch, 349 ; Joshua's Conquest of Canaan, 
350; Sidon and Tyre, 351; Hiram, 351; Solomon, 
351 ; Use of Gold, 351 ; Phoenicians, 352 ; Judah 
and Israel, 352; Shishak, 352: Ahab, 352; 1 Kings 
xx. 1-25, 352; Assyrian Kings, 353; 2 Kings 
xviii. 13, 14, 353; 2 Kings xviii. 37, 353; Transfer 
of the Empire to Babylon, 353; The Captivity, 354; 
Nebuchadnezzar, 354; Belshazzar, 354; Conquest 
of Babylon, 355; Duration of the Captivity, 355; 
Religiousness of the Persians, 355 ; Ahasuerus, 356; 
Persian Customs, 356. 



CONTENTS. 



XI 



CHAPTER II. 

PAGE 

FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY, ....... 357 

Sec. 1. In the Old Testament, 357 

Enlargement of Japheth, ...... 357 

Ishmaelites, ........ 35S 

Division of the Roman Empire, .... 359 

" 2. In the Gospels, 360 

Prodigies preceding the Destruction of Jerusalem, . 360 

" 3. In the Revelation of John, 363 



CHAPTER III. 




Pretended Mip.acles, ..... 


. 380 


CHAPTER IV. 




Mahometaxism, 


. 38S 


CHAPTER V. 




MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS, .... 

Heathen Morality, .... 
Morality of Deists, .... 
Traditions of the Deluge, . . 
Bible History confirmed by Science, . , 


. 399 
. 399 
. 401 
. 406 
. 407 


CHAPTER VL 




Harmony of the Gospels, . # • • 


. 410 



NOTE. 

The reference to foot notes is made with numerals in the 
usual way. But when the numerals are included within 
parenthesis, the reference is to articles in the Appendix. 
These articles are numbered consecutively throughout the 
Appendix. Where a particular passage in any article is 
referred to, it is marked by a letter : thus (57 6) refers to the 
passage marked b in article 57. 



(xii) 



EVIDENCES OF CHBISTIASITY. 



INTRODUCTION. 

CHRISTIANITY IS THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE. 

Christianity is the religion "which is taught in the 
Bible. This well-known book consists of two parts, the 
Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Tes- 
tament, taken by itself, contains the religion of the 
Jews, which is identical in part with that of Christians. 
The New Testament supplies all in which Christianity 
differs from Judaism ; and therefore the entire Bible 
fully exhibits the Christian system. 

The Evidences of Christianity are the proofs that the 
Bible possesses the authority of God, binding men to 
believe the doctrines which it teaches, and perform the 
duties which it enjoins. " These proofs are abundant and 
conclusive ; and the study of them forms an important 
part of popular education, claiming the careful atten- 
tion of every one who desires to be proficient in useful 
knowledge. 

In studying the evidences of Christianity, we have need 
to employ our intellectual powers, as in the study of all 
other science. Our holy religion, though requiring 

(13) 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

faith, is not built on it exclusively, and does not reject 
appeals to reason, as if unfit to endure such a test. On 
the contrary, it challenges investigation, and requires its 
advocates to be ready always to give an answer to every 
man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in them. 1 
On the testimony of parents, children believe facts 
which their own senses have not observed, and truths 
which their own reason has not discovered ; and this 
exercise of faith does not in the least contravene rea- 
son, or interfere with the proper use of it. In like 
manner, faith in the testimony of God our Heavenly 
Father neither supersedes nor discourages the exercise 
of reason. The question whether the Bible comes to us 
with evidences of Divine origin and authority, falls pro- 
perly under the investigation of reason ; and men do 
not sin against God, when they examine this question 
as rational beings. To reject God's word when he 
speaks to us, or to close the eyes against the proofs that 
it is God who speaks, is offensive to the Supreme 
Majesty. Hence reverence for God requires a careful 
study of the Christian evidences. 

Apart from all regard to the authority of God, we 
act inconsistently with our nature as rational beings, if 
we forbear to inquire into the origin and character of 
the Bible. The book exists in the world, and the 
high respect which it has received, and the great influ- 
ence which has emanated from it in forming the cha- 
racters of men, and controlling their actions, render it a 
proper object of rational curiosity. If we worthily 
employ our intellectual powers in observing the phe- 
nomena of nature, and searching into their causes, it no 
less becomes us, as intelligent beings, to inquire whence 

1 1 Pet, iii. 15. 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

came the Bible, and what is the secret of its mysteri- 
ous power. 

The moral endowments of man's nature constitute 
his highest excellence. In these, more than in anything 
else, his likeness to God appears ; and on these the 
well-being of individuals and of society chiefly depends. 
To man's moral nature the Bible is addressed. It is 
not a work of science intended for the improvement of 
the intellect only, but it presents laws to regulate the 
heart and life, and motives to induce obedience to these 
laws. It claims that its laws are the highest standard 
of duty, and its motives the strongest that omnipotent 
love can present. These claims it becomes us, as moral 
beings, to examine: and, in a matter which so inti- 
mately concerns the highest excellence of our nature, 
we are false to ourselves, if we decline to make the 
investigation. 

The immortality of the soul is a doctrine of natural 
religion ; but natural religion cannot teach us what 
enjoyments or sufferings await us in the future state. 
How vast must be the interests which it compre- 
hends ! How infinitely must they transcend in value 
all that is most dearly prized, in this world of fleeting 
show ! Yet all these interests lie in a region which no 
human eye has ever explored. What they are, and how 
to secure them, unaided reason cannot discover. We 
labor to look through the darkness which hides the 
future world from our view ; but we labor in vain, till 
we receive light from the Bible ; for life and immor- 
tality are brought to light through the gospel. 1 This 
book describes an inheritance reserved in the heavenly 
land for all the followers of Christ, and conveys to them 

1 2 Tim. i. 10. 
2* B 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

a duly authenticated title to this vast estate. To study 
the evidences of Christianity, is to examine the seals 
which authenticate this title ; and he who is unwilling 
to make this examination, or who takes but little plea- 
sure in it, shows that his heart and his treasure are not 
in heaven, and proves himself unworthy of eternal life. 



CHAPTER I. 
PROMINENT SINGULARITIES OF THE BIBLE. 

On a cursory view of the Bible, some peculiarities 
strike the mind, producing an effect like the first impres- 
sions in forming acquaintance with a stranger. The 
peculiarities which deserve notice are not in the external 
appearance. Sometimes the sacred volume is one of the 
most highly ornamented in the library ; at other times 
it appears in coarse binding, and printed with obscure 
type on rough paper ; but, whatever may be its external 
dress, it is still the Bible, possessing that internal 
excellence which distinguishes it from all other books, 
and constitutes its true value. 

To a childish fancy it may seem desirable that the 
Bible should be distinguished by some outward sign, 
such as an atmosphere of glory surrounding it, like that 
which is sometimes seen in paintings and engravings 
around the head of our Redeemer. Such a sign would 
distinguish it effectually from all other books in the 
library ; but would it prove the book to be divine ? 
The glory would adhere to the paper, the printing, or 
the binding ; and it would at least be doubtful, whether 
the honor divinely conferred did not fall on the paper- 
maker, printer, or binder, rather than on the prophets 
and apostles by whom the book was written. The true 
glory of the Bible belongs to its internal substance, the 
words which it contains, or rather the thoughts which 
these words express. 

In the following chapters the character of the Bible 

(17) 



18 SINGULARITIES OF THE BIBLE. 

will be carefully investigated, and its distinguishing 
excellences will be brought to view ; but in the present 
chapter our attention will be directed to a few promi- 
nent singularities which strike the mind without any 
laborious investigation. They are the peculiarities 
which produce our first impressions, on looking at the 
book in the light which is thrown upon it by facts 
generally admitted, and opinions generally prevalent 
among men of ordinary information. We shall not stop 
,to inquire at length into the evidence of these facts and 
opinions. Such thoroughness will be necessary in the 
chapters following. It is wise to submit our first 
impressions to subsequent scrutiny for correction or con- 
firmation ; but first impressions have their importance 
as inducements to seek a more thorough acquaintance. 
So the prominent singularities noticed in the present 
chapter will, it is hoped, prepare the way for a more 
earnest and profitable study of the subjects which are 
discussed in the chapters ensuing. To an intelligent 
mind they may serve to distinguish the Bible as effectu- 
ally, and ought as effectually to attract attention to it, 
as would a blaze of glory miraculously emanating from 
its material substance. 

Section I. Antiquity. 

THE BIBLE IS IN GREAT PART THE OLDEST BOOK IN 
THE WORLD. 

The Bible consists of many separate works, written 
at different times during a period of nearly 1600 
years. The Old Testament, which constitutes far 
the larger part of the volume, was written during 
the first 1000 years of this period ; and the very lan- 
guage in which it was written ceased to be in com- 



ANTIQUITY. 19 

mon use, from the time of the seventy years' captivity 
of the Israelites in Babylon. Babylon has long lain in 
ruins ; and, far 'back beyond the period of her final 
overthrow, we look through the years of her gradual 
decline, to the days of her highest glory, when Nebuch- 
adnezzar, the conqueror of the Jews, proudly exclaimed, 
"Is not this great Babylon which I have built?" At 
this time Rome was in its infancy, and, except the poets 
Hesiod and Homer, not one of the Greek and Roman 
authors whose writings form our libraries of ancient 
literature, had then lived. But long before the age of 
these writers Moses wrote the first five books of the 
Bible. Herodotus, who is styled the father of history, 
lived about 1000 years after Moses ; and, though the 
Greek poets Hesiod and Homer lived before Herodotus, 
they were long posterior to Moses. 

We admit that a deeper search into antiquity dis- 
closes the fact that there were writers more ancient than 
even Homer and Hesiod. The earliest of whom we 
have any account, was the Phoenician historian Sancho- 
niathon ; yet even he was long posterior to Moses. 
Porphyry, a learned heathen writer of the third cen- 
tury, has determined the comparative dates of these 
two most ancient writers, by informing us that San- 
choniathon received materials for his history from per- 
sons who lived "near to the time of Moses" (57 5). Of 
the work attributed to this ancient author, only a few 
fragments now remain; and some men learned in 
antiquity seriously doubt whether the whole work was 
not a forgery of a comparatively modern period (74 a). 
Yet the genuine writings of Moses, though more ancient, 
are still extant, and in common use. Malachi, the last 
of the Old Testament writers, was contemporary with 
Herodotus : and hence the whole of the Old Testament 



20 SINGULARITIES OF THE BIBLE. 

was completed, when profane history may be said with 
propriety to have been just beginning. 

The antiquity of the Bible does not of itself prove 
that its origin was divine. Of all merely human pro- 
ductions, some one must be the oldest ; and, because 
the Bible is the oldest of books, it does not follow that 
it has higher claims to divine authority, than books of 
less antiquity. But the fact that the Bible is separated 
from all other books by its antiquity constitutes a singu- 
larity which invites inquiry into its authorship, and at 
least gives room for the supposition, that it may be a 
book prepared by the Father of the human family for 
the benefit of his offspring, before they themselves were 
skilled to make books. 

The most ancient of human writings were designed 
chiefly for amusement ; and the profit of the readers, 
even for the present life, scarcely entered into the plans 
of the authors. Their works in this respect resemble 
the amusements of children, rather than the sober in- 
structions of aged parents, intent mainly on promoting 
the welfare of the family. The Bible, on the other 
hand, was manifestly not designed for amusement, but 
from the very beginning it gives instructions affecting 
our highest interests. The character of its instructions 
combines with its antiquity, to claim for it our pro- 
foundest regard. Foolish children may be so intent on 
their youthful amusements as to contemn the lessons of 
parental wisdom. Of equal folly are they guilty who 
are filled with delight by the study of Hesiod and 
Homer, and other works of classic antiquity, but turn 
away with disgust from the sober teachings of the Bible. 



NATIONALITY. 21 

Section II. Nationality. 

THE HEBREW NATION HAS GIVEN THE RELIGION OF THE 
BIBLE TO THE WORLD, AND HAS EXISTED FOR THIS 
PURPOSE. 

All the writers of the Bible were men of the Hebrew 
nation. This is true even with respect to the New Tes- 
tament, of which the penmen, though Christians, were 
also Jews ; except Luke, who wrote under the direction 
of Paul, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. They regarded 
Christianity not as a heresy, but as the true faith in- 
culcated in the Old Testament, enlarged by new revela- 
tions from God. Paul said: "After the way which 
they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, 
believing all things which are written in the law and in 
the prophets." 1 

The nation of Israel was singular in the earth. It 
was said concerning it, " Lo ! the people shall dwell 
alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." 2 
Their peculiar usages separated them from all other 
people ; and, though for eighteen hundred years they 
have been scattered among the nations of the earth, 
they still remain distinct. In their present dispersion 
the Jews are distinguished everywhere from the people 
of the nations where they are found ; and in the light 
of history we see them, in all past ages, distinct and 
peculiar. 

What has been the grand peculiarity of this singular 
people ? It is not that they have excelled in arts or arms, 
or occupied the largest territory, or numbered the largest 
population. The boast of this people is, that they have 

1 Acts, xxiv. 14. 2 Num. xxiii. 9. 



22 SINGULARITIES OF THE BIBLE. 

given religion to mankind. In past ages, when poly- 
theism prevailed in all other nations, and the wisest and 
most refined of the heathens worshipped abominable 
deities, among the Hebrews was preserved the knowledge 
of the one true God, and through them the world has 
obtained the knowledge of the true religion. This is 
the grand peculiarity of the nation. 

The religion which the Hebrews have taught mankind 
is contained in the Bible. This most ancient of books 
was committed to them, and they were taught to prize 
it as their peculiar glory. They regarded themselves 
as far more blessed than the heathen, who knew not the 
statutes and judgments of God. " He showeth his 
word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto 
Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation, and as 
for his judgments, they have not known them," x and 
their wisest and best men accounted the law of God more 
to be desired than gold, " Yea, than much fine gold ; 
sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb," 2 and 
made it the subject of their meditation. This singular 
book was from its remote origin committed to the keep- 
ing of this singular people ; and singularly preserved as 
they are at the present time among the nations of the 
earth, they carry with them, wherever they go, that 
part of the sacred writings which they have received 
from their ancestors, and preserve it with the utmost 
care. 

Natural religion should be learned, as well from the 
providence which governs the world, as from the crea- 
tion which originated it ; and in both Ave may observe 
manifestations of contrivance and wisdom. Let natural 
religion inquire, for what purpose was the Hebrew na- 

1 Psalms, cxlvii. 19, 20. 2 Psalms, xix. 10. 



X A T I X A L I T Y. 23 

tion brought into being ? Why does it stand forth so 
singular among the nations of the earth, and why has it 
been so singularly preserved ? The grand peculiarity 
of the nation has been the religion which, makes known 

© 

the God that created the world, and overrules the affairs 
of all nations ; and the student of providence may 
clearly see a divine contrivance in the connection of this 
singular nation with their singular religion, and the sin- 
gular book in which this religion is contained. If there 
© © 

is a God who governs the world, he must be the God 
of the Hebrews and the God of the Bible. 

"When we open the singular book which the Hebrew 
nation has given to the world, we find that its teachings 
confirm the deductions of natural religion with respect 
to the purpose for which the Hebrew nation has existed. 
It was promised to their great ancestor, Abraham, " In 
thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." 1 
Their temple was to be a house of prayer for all people, 2 
and it was predicted by their prophets that all nations 
should become the worshippers of their God, and be 
blessed in submitting to him." 3 The holy book suffi- 
tly explains the wonderful preservation of the Jews 
in their present dispersion, as a peculiar dispensation 
of God with respect to them, and as a part of a grand 
purpose that his name is to be made known through 
them to all the inhabitants of the earth. The Bible and 
the providence of God harmonize with and explain 
each other ; and the natural if not unavoidable infer- 
ence is, that they have the same author. 

1 Gph. xxii. 18. 2 Isaiah, lvi. 7. 

3 Isaiah, ii. 1-3. Psalms, xxii. 27. 



24 SINGULARITIES OF THE BIBLE. 



Section III. Respect obtained. 

THE BIBLE HAS OBTAINED THE HIGHEST RESPECT FROM 
MULTITUDES OF THE WISEST AND BEST MEN ; AND HAS 
BEEN HELD SACRED BY THEM AS A REVELATION FROM 
HEAVEN. 

In our Christian country no man is ignorant of the 
respect which the Bible receives. In every city and 
village through the land congregations of intelligent 
men and women listen with devout attention to the 
reading of the revered book, and receive its instructions 
as if the words were uttered in their ears by the imme- 
diate voice of God. In the cottage of the peasant, the 
Bible on the stand is the great book of the family ; in the 
courts of justice, and halls of legislation, its authority 
is acknowledged ; and the great majority of those who 
are pre-eminent for intelligence and virtue zealously and 
in good faith unite with the less informed multitude to 
render homage to the Bible. This singularity of the 
book can escape the notice of no observer. 

The respect paid to the Bible is not confined to the 
men of the present generation. The past age honored 
it equally. The great minds of Milton, Newton, and 
Locke bowed before its authority ; and in the long suc- 
cession of clerical men, who have devoted their lives 
to the study and exposition of the sacred volume, 
thousands may be mentioned distinguished for superior 
genius, profound research, and unimpeachable integrity. 
No other book has received such honor. 

The respect paid to the Bible extends back to its 
origin in remote antiquity. In the earliest, as well as 
the latest ages, it has been honored by the wisest and 
best of men. Moses, the first of the sacred writers, 



RESPECT OBTAINED. 25 

exceeded all the great men of ancient times as a law- 
giver and political leader ; but in all the records "which 
he has made of himself and his deeds, we see him 
merely as the servant and amanuensis of Jehovah. 
He exhibits himself as a frail and erring man ; and 
teaches us to honor the God whom he served, and the 
revelation from God which he, by divine command, 
committed to writing. After Moses came the judges, 
prophets, and kings of Israel, who rendered like rever- 
ence to the sacred writings. Among these men were 
many who had no equals in their generation, and of 
whom the world was not worthy ; and all these gave 
the full homage of their understanding and hearts to 
the Bible. 

The respect paid to the Bible in ancient times was 
not the result of novelty, because it has remained 
unimpaired to the present time, when the novelty has 
passed away. Nor can the respect which it received 
from the ancients be attributed to their ignorance and 
superstition, since it has continued undiminished while 
the light of science and philosophy has advanced to its 
present noonday splendor. 

The Bible has not obtained the respect which it has 
received through carelessness in the examination of its 
pretensions. No other book has been subjected to such 
scrutiny. It has not been shut up in some secret place, 
where none but an interested few could have access to 
it ; but it has been translated into almost all languages, 
and published in editions almost without number ; and 
copies have been scattered through all accessible regions 
by the untiring zeal of its friends, who call on all to 
search it diligently. Nor has it been without opponents. 
Men of shrewdness have denied its authority, and dis- 
puted its claim to the respect which it receives. Con- 



26 SINGULARITIES OF THE BIBLE. 

troversies have arisen, and have been carried on by men 
of great ability, in which the authority and credibility 
of the Bible have been discussed with acuteness and 
earnestness. Many volumes have been written on the 
subject; and every form of investigation which inge- 
nuity could invent has been adopted. No other book 
has ever been subjected to such an ordeal, yet it comes 
forth from this scrutiny still commanding the highest 
respect from multitudes of the wisest and best men, and 
firmly believed by them to be of divine origin. 

But however numerous, intelligent, and virtuous the 
advocates of the Bible may be, it would be wrong for 
us to receive it merely because they receive it. This 
would be to rest our faith on the authority of men. 
We should examine for ourselves the evidences of its 
divine origin. The men of Sychar who went out to see 
Jesus at Jacob's well, said to the woman who had in- 
formed them concerning him, " Now we believe, not 
because of thy saying ; for we have heard him our- 
selves." x So every wise student of the sacred scriptures 
will be able to rest his faith, not on the wisdom or 
virtue of those who receive the Bible, but on the evi- 
dences which attend the Bible itself, demonstrating that 
it is a revelation from God. The fact that the Bible is 
singular in the respect which it has obtained from men, 
though not of itself sufficient to demonstrate the 
divinity of its origin, presents a strong inducement to 
study its character and claims ; and harmonizes well 
with other facts which prove its divine origin. 

1 John, iv. 42. 



CHARACTER CLAIMED. 27 



Section IV. Character claimed. 

THE BIBLE IS THE ONLY BOOK THAT EXHIBITS RESPECT- 
ABLE PRETENSIONS TO THE CHARACTER OF A DIVINE 
REVELATION. 

Various heathen nations have preserved with care 
books which they have esteemed sacred, and have 
regarded with religious reverence. But none of these 
are considered worthy of high respect by any intelli- 
gent persons in our land. The only book likely to be 
put in comparison with the Bible, as a divine revelation, 
is the Koran of Mahomet. Its pretensions will be 
examined hereafter. At present it will suffice to re- 
mark that he who puts it in comparison with the Bible, 
does so, not to establish the authority of the Koran, 
but to bring the Bible into discredit. We may take it 
for granted that every one who reads these pages will 
either believe the Bible to be a revelation from God, or 
deny that any book in the world has a just claim to this 
character. It will therefore be needless to prove that 
the Koran, and the sacred books of the heathen, are 
unworthy of such respect as it was shown in the last 
section the Bible has received from multitudes of the 
wisest and best of mankind. 

The fact that various nations have had their sacred 
books, and regarded them with religious reverence, 
furnishes strong proof that men have felt the need of a 
divine revelation. Some of the wisest among the ancient 
heathen expressed their sense of the need in language 
which has come down to our times ; and where is the 
man who will affirm that the morality and religion of 
the heathen world have not needed such correction as a 
revelation from heaven might be expected to impart ? 
3* 



28 SINGULARITIES OF THE BIBLE. 

The atheist consistently rejects all revelations from 
God, because, according to his creed, there is no God 
to make it. But the deist professes to learn from 
nature that there is a God infinitely powerful, wise, and 
good ; and he is therefore compelled to admit that such 
a God is able to make to his creatures any revelation 
that may be necessary for them ; yet he denies that 
such a revelation has ever been made. He professes to 
learn his religion from nature ; and sees in the bounti- 
ful provision which the author of nature has made to 
supply the animal wants of man proofs of divine 
benevolence which he admires and extols ; but when 
man's moral wants call for relief,' and nature within him 
cries to Heaven, and vainly catches at fables and bun- 
gling forgeries for divine illumination, the God of Deism 
shuts up his benevolence, and makes no provision to 
supply the chief want that his creatures suffer. 



CHAPTER II. 
BENEFICIAL EFFECTS. 

THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF THE BIBLE HAVE BEEN EX- 
CEEDINGLY GREAT, AND OUGHT TO BE REGARDED AS 
SINGULAR BLESSINGS BESTOWED ON MANKIND BY 
DIVINE PROVIDENCE. 



Section I. On Morals. 

Our present concern is with facts. We inquire into 
the effects which the Bible has actually produced on the 
morals of mankind. Good precepts do not always secure 
good conduct. Parental commands are often disobeyed 
by children, and the laws of a state are often better 
than the morals of the people. The ethics taught by 
the ancient heathen philosophers had but a feeble prac- 
tical influence on themselves and their disciples, and 
never wrought any thorough reform in the populace. 
Bible morality is remarkable for its greater success in 
this particular. 

In a general survey of the nations which inhabit the 
earth, we cannot well avoid observing that the purest 
morality prevails where the Bible is best known. The 
nations which are in total ignorance of Christianity are 
deeply sunk in corruption, and every species of vice 
prevails among the people. Tyranny and cruelty mark 
the acts of those who are in power ; the rights of pro- 
perty which have not fallen a prey to official rapacity, 

(29) 



30 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS. 

are often rendered insecure by predatory bands of rob- 
bers ; fraud and falsehood abound in the intercourse of 
the people with one another ; the benevolent affections 
of the heart, and the tender sympathies of human 
nature, are smothered in their exercise by the prevalent 
selfishness and sensuality ; husbands are oppressors ; 
mothers are monsters ; filial piety is unpractised ; and 
chastity and modesty are little known and little appre- 
ciated. Here and there the moral gloom may be broken 
by fitful gleams from the expiring light of nature in the 
hearts of men ; but it is still true that darkness covers 
the earth, and gross darkness the people. The descrip- 
tion given by Paul is, in general, true of all heathen 

nations: " Being filled with all unrighteousness, form- 
es o " 

cation, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness ; full of 
envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity ; whisperers, 
backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, 
inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without 
understanding, covenant breakers ; without natural 
affection, implacable, unmerciful." 1 

Infidels, while rejecting the doctrines of Christianity, 
have generally admitted the excellence of its morality ; 
and while they exult in being themselves free from its 
bondage, they have admitted its beneficial influence on 
the mass of mankind. Statesmen and legislators have 
been sensible of its power, and have regarded it as the 
surest foundation of virtue, order, and good govern- 
ment. In proportion as Christianity has prevailed in 
its purity among any people, the conviction of its utility 
has prevailed also : and while nations have groaned 
under the burden of its corrupt forms, and have desired 
release from the oppressions of its corrupt priesthood, 

1 Rom. i. 29-31. 



ONMO&ALSi 31 

the general approbation of mankind Las been spontane- 
ously yielded to its intrinsic excellence ; and not only 
the wise and virtuous, but even the vicious, have ren- 
dered homage to it, and have felt that its banishment 
from the world would be a great calamity. 

The eifect of the Bible in promoting virtue may be 
seen by contrasting the moral degradation of pagan 
countries with the condition of society in those lands in 
which Christianity exerts its purest and least obstructed 
influence. Where the Bible is unknown iniquity 
abounds in every form, and the very rites of religious 
worship are polluted. Contrast with these loathsome 
exhibitions of human depravity the happy condition of 
a community who obey the precepts of the Bible, if you 
would estimate its beneficial influence. 

The debasement of morals in heathen lands cannot 
well be conceived by persons educated under the influ- 
ence of Christianity. In ancient Greece and Rome, 
amidst their refinement in literature and the arts, and 
notwithstanding the philosophy which their sages taught, 
crimes which no Christian community could tolerate 
were practised publicly without shame. Fabulous 
accounts of some modern heathen nations have reported 
their virtues so favorably, that infidels have suggested 
the expediency of importing missionaries from them to 
instruct Christians how to live virtuously ; but Christian 
missionaries sent to those very lands have found them 
to be habitations of cruelty, fraud, falsehood, lewdness, 
and degrading idolatry. A few, through the labors of 
these missionaries, have received the gospel, and by 
their sober, righteous, and godly lives, contrasted with 
the prevalent iniquity, have exemplified the beneficial 
effects of the Christian religion. We know that in 
many countries Christianity has supplanted polytheism, 



32 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS. 

and has erected barriers which promise effectually to 
prevent its return ; but history does not record a single 
instance in which a heathen nation has of its own 
accord, under the influence of natural religion, aban- 
doned idolatry and vice, and been converted to virtue 
and the worship of the one living and true God. 

Heathen nations, ancient and modern, have not been 
without religion, for man's depravity has not wholly 
effaced from his heart the sense of religious obligation. 
But heathen religions are superstitious rites which have 
no tendency to promote virtue, and in many cases are 
themselves moral abominations. These religions have 
their priests ; but the priests are not employed in teach- 
ing men virtue. On the contrary, these ministers of 
religion are often the chief instigators of crime. 

If, in our survey of the world, we pass from pagan 
nations to those countries in which the Roman Catholic 
religion prevails, we shall perceive an improvement in 
the morals of the people. The absence of polygamy 
and the superior sanctity of the conjugal relation, give 
worth and endearment to family and home. The Sab- 
bath, though too little regarded, is a blessing to man 
and beast. The public worship of God, though de- 
graded by ceremonies of human invention, and prosti- 
tuted to serve the purposes of designing priests and 
rulers, restrains the vicious propensities of men with a 
sense of religious obligation. And the Christian pre- 
cepts which are inculcated even in this corrupt form of 
Christianity, have their effect in the public and private 
charities which mitigate the evils of poverty and suffer- 
ing, and in the degree of security which is given to life 
and property. 

But to understand the influence of the Bible in pro- 
moting morality, we must look at Protestant countries, 



oft Morals. 33 

where the free use of the sacred volume is not only per- 
mitted but encouraged. Nor will it suffice to satisfy 
ourselves with a general and careless comparison of Pro- 
testant nations with others ; though even such a com- 
parison will redound to the credit of the too-much 
neglected book. We should search for the communities 
where it is best known, for the families where it is most 
read, and for the individuals who are most familiar with 
its pages. In this search we shall find the purity of 
morals greatest where the Bible is permitted to exert its 
greatest influence. 

In a general view of the benefits which Christianity 
has conferred on mankind, we may observe the following 
facts : — 

1. Christianity has wholly abolished many evils which 
prevailed among the heathen. 

Idolatry was universally practised in the most en- 
lightened heathen nations ; and was sanctioned by their 
wisest and best men. Among their entertainments 
gladiatorial combats held a prominent place, and polished 
men and women, even beautiful and tender virgins, 
gazed with intense delight on these scenes of human 
slaughter. The laws and usages allowed parents to 
destroy their infant children, when unwilling to rear 
them. Polygamy and divorce at pleasure were autho- 
rized and freely practised. 

All these evils Christianity has banished wherever it 
has prevailed. Idolatry fell before it. Constantine, 
the first Christian emperor, put an end by decree to 
infanticide (38 a) and gladiatorial shows ; and in modern 
times infanticide and the burning of widows on the 
funeral pile of their deceased Jiusbands have been pro- 
hibited in India by English legislation. And the abo- 
lishment of polygamy and divorce has been a chief cause 



84 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS. 

of the superiority which the Christian nations of Europe 
possess over the inhabitants of Asia. 

2. Christianity has mitigated many evils which it has 
not wholly abolished. 

Wars were anciently undertaken for the avowed pur- 
pose of conquest, and were conducted with ferocious 
cruelty. Conquered armies were massacred or enslaved, 
the lands of conquered nations were ravaged, the pos- 
sessions of the inhabitants seized or destroyed. Now 
no Christian nation will make war except for real or 
alleged injury ; and it is necessary to the reputation of 
any military chief, that he avoid as much as possible 
the shedding of blood, and that he treat with kindness 
the wounded and prisoners who may fall into his hands, 
and that he spare private property. 

Anciently conquered people were enslaved ; and mas- 
ters were invested with the power of life and death over 
their slaves. They nailed them to the cross at pleasure, 
or threw their bodies into the fish-ponds to feed the 
fish ; and when a master was found dead by suspected 
violence, all his slaves might be put to death. Now, 
slavery is not inflicted by Christian nations as a penalty 
on those whom they conquer ; and, where slavery has 
existed in a Christian nation, the power of the master 
has been greatly restricted. He has not been legally 
permitted to take away the lives of his slaves ; and even 
to treat them with cruelty has been held to be a criminal 
and punishable abuse of power. 

The forms of civil government have been meliorated 
by the influence of Christianity. Despotism has given 
place to restricted monarchy or republicanism. Capital 
punishments are less frequent, and are not inflicted at 
the will of the ruler, or without fair trial. Venality and 
corruption in the administration of. justice have become 



ON MORALS. 35 

far less common ; and far greater security exists for life 
and property. Assassinations are far less frequent, and 
a higher value is everywhere set on human life. 

3. Christianity has conferred many positive benefits 
on human society. 

Christianity has elevated the condition of the female 
sex. The women of heathen lands are the slaves rather 
than the companions of the stronger sex, and are made 
in degradation to minister to the pleasure of their mas- 
ters. Christianity elevates and refines the sex, and 
creates sisters, wives, and mothers, who sustain honor- 
able relations, and perform duties that are full of bless- 
ings to the family and the nation. 

Christianity elevates the condition of the poor, pro- 
motes industry, encourages self-reliance, and diffuses 
intelligence. It provides hospitals, dispensaries, and 
various modes of relief to the indigent and suffering. 
Such benevolence is unknown in heathen lands. 

Christianity gives Sabbaths for the relief of our animal 
nature, and for the cultivation of piety. Natural reli- 
gion teaches the obligation to worship God, but provides 
no special time for this service. The due observance of 
the Sabbath is productive of the highest benefits to indi- 
viduals, families, and communities ; and for this benign 
institution mankind are wholly indebted to the Bible. 

Christianity confers blessings on all the relations of 
domestic and social life. Husbands and wives, parents 
and children, masters and servants, learn and perform 
their several duties to each other, so as to promote the 
happiness of all. The aged are treated with a reverence 
which heathenism never inspires, and a care unknown 
to heathenism is exercised over the young. 

The numerous moral benefits which we have contem- 
plated, follow from the Bible. They are found where the 
4 



36 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS. 

Bible is found ; and they exist in the greatest degree, 
wherever the Bible has the greatest influence. More- 
over, the men who are most distinguished for moral 
purity, tell us that their characters are formed by the 
Bible. They tell us that it gives them the precepts 
which they obey, the examples which they imitate, and 
the motives which impel them forward in the pursuit of 
holiness. They tell us, in short, that the book is pre- 
cisely adapted to make men perfect ; thoroughly fur- 
nished unto all good works. Our present concern is, 
not to look into the contents of the Bible, but to take a 
survey of the moral benefits emanating from it. After 
this survey, it is natural to inquire how it has happened 
that such a source of moral purity has been opened in 
this sinful world. Have fraud and imposture conferred 
this vast benefit on mankind ? If there is a God who 
rules in the affairs of men, and if he delights in virtue, 
must it not be that he is pleased with the effects which 
the Bible is producing ? Will he be offended if we study 
the book that makes men holy, prize its teachings, and 
thankfully receive it as a gift of his benevolence ? 

Section II. On Happiness. 

In surveying the population of the globe to ascertain 
where the highest degree of happiness is to be found, it 
will be convenient to follow the same order as that which 
was adopted in the last section, beginning where the 
Bible is unknown, and ending where its influence on the 
conduct and character of men is the greatest. 

In pagan nations misery abounds as well as crime. 
Governments are administered, not to promote the good 
of the people, but to gratify the selfishness and ambition 
of the rulers. Rivalships for political power give fre- 
quent occasion for civil wars, wasting the lives and 



ON HAPPINESS. 37 

property of the people, multiplying their miseries, and 
discouraging the efforts of industry to provide supplies 
for necessary wants. Mutual distrust prevents co- 
operation to promote the general good ; and while each 
endeavors to appropriate to himself as much as he can 
of the scanty means of enjoyment, no one obtains a large 
share, and no one has a secure enjoyment of the portion 
which he obtains. The domestic relations exist; but 
without those refined affections that are necessary to 
render home happy. Instead of the exquisite enjoy- 
ments of which human beings are capable, the feelings 
become blunted, and the pleasures are few and frothy ; 
or sullenness and gloom prevail, attended with an under- 
valuing of life. Were life filled with high enjoyments, 
it would be valued : but the low estimate placed on it 
by heathen nations, demonstrates that they feel its 
emptiness. 

In lands where a corrupt Christianity denies to the 
people the free use of the Bible, we find miseries pre- 
vailing similar to those which afflict heathen nations ; 
but they are attended with many mitigations. Where 
the Bible is most known and influential, governments 
are administered with mildness and justice, life and 
property are secure, the arts flourish, industry is stimu- 
lated, and mutual confidence gives freedom to social 
intercourse, and success to trade and commerce. While 
the means of enjoyment are multiplied, the susceptibility 
of enjoyment is increased by the refinement of feeling 
resulting from superior education ; and while the general 
condition of society is greatly improved, the happiness 
of the domestic circle receives more than an equal share 
of the general improvement. The families where the 
Bible is read, and the God of the Bible devoutly wor- 
shipped, are heavenly places on earth, and in the sane- 



38 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS. 

tified intercourse of the members with each other, a 
measure of that bliss is experienced which the pious 
expect to enjoy to the full in the upper world. 

But, to estimate rightly the influence of the Bible in 
promoting human happiness, we must extend our re- 
search. Having entered a family in which the religion 
of the Bible has diffused happiness, we must select from 
its members the individual who loves the Bible most, 
and in whose heart the word of Christ dwells most 
richly. Contemplate the walk of that individual on the 
very verge of heaven. He has joys that a stranger 
intermeddles not with, and of which no power on earth 
can deprive him. He may be poor in the things of this 
world ; but he is rich in faith. He may be wasting away 
with disease, or suffering torturing pain in his body ; 
but he is strengthened with all might in the inner man, 
and a joyful confidence in God more than countervails 
the pain which he endures, enables him to rejoice in the 
light and momentary affliction, which he believes to be 
working for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
of glory. But spiritual enjoyments, however exquisite, 
are not perpetual in the present life. Their tide has its 
ebb and flow, and the most highly favored individual 
has seasons of comparative gloom and depression. Select 
his moments of highest ecstasy, when the tide of his 
enjoyment is at its flood ; and you will find that it is 
just then the truths of the Bible are nearest to his heart, 
and its precious promises most clearly and ravishingly 
unfolded to his view. 

The Bible — wonderful book ! How benign its influ- 
ence ! Wherever it is, in proportion as its influence is 
unobstructed, it diffuses virtue and happiness around. 
The more the heart receives its teaching, the more is its 
sanctifying and beatifying power felt and manifested. 



N IT A P P I N E S S . 39 

We know that the sun is the source of light and heat, 
because the light and heat increase as we approach the 
centre from which they emanate. So the Bible is a 
source of holiness and happiness, which some power has 
opened in this world of sin and misery ; and from which 
the sons and daughters of men are deriving the best of 
all blessings. What must be the unseen power which 
has bestowed this inestimable gift ? The character of 
the gift determines the character of the giver. The 
holiness and happiness which it produces demonstrate 
the holiness and benevolence of its author ; and give 
proof that it is what it claims to be, the book of God. 

Modern deism has had but little opportunity to dis- 
play on a large scale its influence on the morals and 
happiness of mankind. But at the close of the last 
century it arose to power in France, and a short experi- 
ment of a few T years fully demonstrated that the evils 
of popish superstition and oppression to which the 
people had been accustomed, were far more tolerable 
than the illuminations and blessings of infidelity. 

Philosophers have proposed captivating theories of 
human perfectibility, and have predicted a delightful 
state of society to which, by the power of self-love, 
mankind are to advance through increase of knowledge, 
and improvement in the forms of civil government. But 
thus far experience has never verified these predictions. 
It has been found that increase of knowledge, if not 
sanctified by religion, gives increased power to wicked- 
ness ; and the wisest statesmen have learned that the 
best forms of civil government are unavailing, if the 
morals of the people are not purified by religion. 

4* 



40 BENEFICIAL EFFECTS. 

Section III. Objection. 

It is objected by infidels that the Bible has caused 
much of the war and consequent misery with which the 
world has been afflicted, and has originated an oppress- 
ive priesthood which has been a curse to mankind. 

We admit that the religion of the Bible has been an 
occasion of much bloodshed and suffering, but deny that 
it has been the cause. The birth of Jesus at Bethlehem 
was the occasion of Herod's massacre of the infants in 
that city, but it was not the cause of that bloody tragedy. 
So Christianity is innocent of the blood which its per- 
secutors have shed. The religious wars and clerical 
oppression which have claimed the sanction of Christ, 
are utterly opposed to the spirit of his religion. It will 
be shown in the next chapter that the morality of the 
Bible has no tendency to produce these evils, and they 
must therefore proceed from another cause. "From 
whence come wars and fightings among you ? come they 
not hence, even of your lusts that war in your mem- 
bers?" 1 These warring lusts Christianity counteracts 
by a peaceful and benignant influence ; and, instead of 
causing the evils which the objection lays to its charge, 
it is the divinely appointed remedy for their removal. 

The wars of Joshua, in the conquest of Canaan, fur- 
nish to infidels a more plausible objection, but these are 
not properly chargeable on the religion of the Bible. 
The Israelites lived at peace with surrounding nations 
of idolaters, when undisturbed by them ; and neither 
the precepts nor the spirit of their religion required 
them to war against their neighbors. The wars against 

1 Jarnes, iv. 1. 



OBJECTION. 41 

the nations that inhabited Canaan were directed by the 
special command of Jehovah ; for the purpose of inflict- 
ing a punishment which had been deferred until the 
iniquity of the nations was full. 1 God has an indis- 
putable right to punish nations for their iniquities, and 
to employ what agency he pleases for the execution of 
his judgments. An angel was sent to destroy the army 
of Sennacherib; 2 and the blood of the one hundred and 
eighty-five thousand men slain by him in one night, did 
not stain the moral purity of the heavenly messenger. 
So Joshua and the hosts that he led were not chargeable 
with crime when they destroyed the Canaanites by 
divine command. That women and children perished in 
the overthrow of these nations, is nothing different from 
what happened in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomor- 
rah, and from what happens whenever a country is 
scourged with famine or pestilence. The right of God 
to send such calamities deists cannot deny without 
rejecting the teachings of natural religion, the guide 
which they claim to follow. Hence their objection to 
Joshua's wars is unfounded. 

1 Gen. xv. 16. 2 2 Kings, xix. 35. 



CHAPTER III. 
PERFECT MORALITY. 

THE MORALITY TAUGHT IN THE BIBLE IS PERFECT, AND 
BEARS THE IMPRESS OE DIVINE HOLINESS. 



Section I, Perfect Precept. 

Men are endowed by nature with a moral faculty, 
which enables them to distinguish between right and 
wrong, impels them to make the discrimination, urges 
the obligation of doing right, and rewards with self- 
approbation, or punishes with remorse, according to the 
moral character of actions performed. This faculty is 
peculiar to human beings, distinguishing them from all 
other animals which inhabit the earth ; and the due use 
and cultivation of it are therefore necessary to the 
accomplishment of the proper end for which man exists. 

The moral faculty of each individual qualifies him to 
comprehend the distinction between right and wrong ; 
and in some measure to discover, by the light of nature, 
the moral quality of actions, for his guidance in duty. 
But no individual is indebted, for his moral knowledge, 
to his own experience and observation exclusively. We 
all owe much to parental instruction, the moral senti- 
ments of the community, and the laws of society. 
Another and very important source of instruction is 
found in books which the wisest and best men have writ- 
ten on morals for the direction of human conduct. A 

(42) 



PERFECT PRECEPT. 43 

few of such books have come down to us from ancient 
times ; and, in modern times, a large part of the pro- 
ductions which emanate from the press are works of 
this class. 

Of all the books on morals, the Bible, though the 
oldest, is incomparably the best. The excellence of its 
morality even infidels, who reject its divine authority, 
are compelled to acknowledge. Concessions from them 
to this effect might readily be quoted ; but it will be 
more profitable to examine the subject for ourselves. 

But does not our belief that the Bible is the highest 
standard of morals disqualify us for the examination 
which we have proposed, and bind us to the absurdity 
of estimating the morality of the Bible by comparing 
the book with itself? It does not; for the Bible, 
though it is the highest standard of morals, is not our 
only means of knowing the distinction between right 
and wrong : but the Creator has endowed us with a 
moral faculty for this purpose ; and so orders the course 
of events under his providence that the moral quality 
of actions may often be learned from their effects. In 
geometry we regard Euclid's Elements as a standard 
work, and believe all its propositions to be true : but if 
any one should pronounce it to be a work of falsehood 
and delusion, we are not under the necessity of vindi- 
cating it by comparing the book with itself. We pro- 
duce the author's demonstrations, which are an appeal 
to every man's reason. We receive the facts of history 
on authority ; and we may so receive the truths of geo- 
metry from the lips of a teacher : but when we have 
studied the demonstrations, we have within ourselves a 
proof which is independent of all authority. So we 
have within ourselves the means for obtaining independ- 
ent proof of moral truth. When our parents authori- 



44 PERFECT MORALITY. 

tatively decided right and wrong for us in our childhood, 
we had even then our thoughts about the correctness 
of their decisions ; and, with whatever authority moral 
truth comes clothed, our minds sit in judgment on it. 
Though reason and the moral faculty are not' infallible, 
they are capable of giving us a firm conviction that the 
morality of the Bible is supremely excellent, just as we 
have a firm conviction that the propositions of Euclid 
are certainly true. 

In the heathen world, the ablest instructors in morals 
have been such men as Socrates, Plato, Epictetus, 
Cicero, and Seneca. It would not be altogether fair to 
refer to the lives of these men for specimens of the 
morality which they taught ; for many even in Christian 
lands teach better morality than they practise : but 
what said their public instructions ? These justified 
drunkenness, when it occurred in the worship of Bac- 
chus; held fornication to be innocent; exalted lying 
to the character of virtue, when used skilfully in man- 
aging the affairs of state ; and not only tolerated but 
approved compliance with the prevalent idolatry. How 
different from all these are the pure precepts of the 
Bible ! How does the Decalogue frown on the vices 
which these sages not only practised but approved ! Let 
any one open the New Testament, and study the mo- 
rality taught by Christ and his Apostles ; and he cannot 
but be sensible of its great superiority to that of the 
heathen philosophers. 

The author of the Koran, in founding the new religion 
which he introduced, had the advantage of free access 
to the Bible, and of incorporating its moral principles 
into his system : but with all this advantage, how 
degraded is the morality of .the Koran, compared with 
that of the Bible ! It corrupts the institution of mar- 



PERFECT PRECEPT. 45 

riage, dishonors and oppresses the female sex, encour- 
ages sensuality, and teaches hatred, revenge, and cruelty. 

The best books on morals, except the Bible, are 
among the works of modern Christian writers ; and all 
these with one accord acknowledge themselves indebted 
to the Bible for the principles which they inculcate. 
They refer to it not merely as a help in their studies, 
but as the highest standard to which they can appeal ; 
as a rule which their best reasoning cannot correct ; and 
as authority of such tried and acknowledged perfection 
that there can be no appeal from its decision. 

It is an excellence of Bible morality that it elevates a 
class of virtues which mankind have generally held in 
low estimation. The heroic virtues have attracted the 
admiration of the world, and valor, fortitude, and even 
revenge, have been held in honor : but humility, meek- 
ness, gentleness, forgiveness, and all the passive virtues, 
have been contemned. In opposition to these prevalent 
sentiments, the Bible assigns the highest place of excel- 
lence to the gentle virtues ; forbids all revenge ; teaches 
forgiveness of injuries, love of enemies, and the return 
of good for evil ; and promises the highest reward to 
the meek and lowly. This system of morality, when 
judged by its effects, is demonstrated to be the wisest 
and best ; and the fact that we derive our first know- 
ledge of it from the Bible, ought to inspire us with 
reverence for the moral teachings of this ancient book. 

It is an excellence of Bible morality, that it does not 
respect the outward conduct only, but extends to the 
heart; and, by regulating the desires and affections, 
rectifies the first springs of human action. It forbids 
anger, covetousness, unchaste desires, pride, and dis- 
content. The teachings of the wonderful book probe 
the inmost depths of the soul, and reveal unsuspected 



46 PERFECT MORALITY. 

corruptions from which proceed the outward forms of 
wickedness that fill the earth. 

It is an excellence of Bible morality, that it refers 
all duties to a few simple principles, So perfect is its 
generalization, that it reduces all duty to a single affec- 
tion, " Love is the fulfilling of the law." 1 It contem- 
plates this affection in a two-fold relation, to God and 
our fellow-creature, and expresses the obligations 
thence arising, in two great precepts : " Thou shalt love 
the Lord thy God with all thy heart;" and "Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 2 On these two 
commandments, the comprehensive system makes all the 
law and the prophets to depend ; and these two com- 
mandments, by a further unfolding, adapting them to 
the relations and circumstances of human beings, 
become the decalogue or ten commandments, recorded 
in the 20th chapter of Exodus. These commandments 
contain an admirable summary of human duties. They 
are represented to have been given by Jehovah to the 
people of Israel, as the foundation of his covenant with 
them ; and to have been engraven by him on two tables 
of stone, and preserved by them with special care, in 
obedience to his command, in a sacred chest, called 
"the Ark of the Covenant." Natural philosophy 
approaches nearest to perfection, when it explains the 
various phenomena of the material world, by referring 
them to a few simple principles, called laws of nature. 
In morals, the Bible has already accomplished what 
philosophers are laboring to accomplish in physics. It 
presents a perfect system of ethics made out from a few 
general principles. 

The moral system of the Bible is complete. It regu- 

1 Rom. xiii. 10. 2 Matt. xxii. 37-40. 



PERFECT PRECEPT. 47 

lates the duties appertaining to every relation in life, 
prohibits all forms of vice, and enjoins every species of 
virtue. Its requirements are not confined to the 
external conduct, but as has been already noticed, 
extend to the heart, and regulate the desires and affec- 
tions, which are the first springs of action. So far- 
reaching is its authority, that an ancient student of it 
exclaimed, " Thy commandment is exceeding broad,'" 1 
and such did he discover to be its influence on the 
inner man, that he testified, " The law of the Lord is 
perfect, converting the soul." 2 

The Bible not only gives to men a pure and perfect 
code of morality, but it also presents the strongest 
motives to induce obedience to its requirements. It 
records the penalty affixed to the first transgression, " In 
the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," 3 
and depicts fearfully the woes which that transgression 
introduced into the condition of human existence. In 
page after page the sacred volume unfolds the terrible 
judgments of God on the sins of men ; and the retribu- 
tions of the future world, which are vividly portrayed 
in the Bible, allure to virtue by the hope of eternal 
life, and deter from crime by the apprehension of 
enduring the wrath of the Almighty for ever and ever. 
To these strongest of motives, another of great power 
is added, in the exhibition of divine love and mercy 
which is made in the gospel of Christ. Here the good- 
ness of God leads to repentance; and they who cordially 
receive the gospel, become devoted followers of Christ, 
who loved them and died for them ; and imitate his 
example of perfect virtue. 

1 Psalms, cxix. 96. 2 Psalms, xix. 7. 

3 Gen. ii. 17. 



48 PERFECT MORALITY. 



5Ii( 



The promotion of virtue and piety is the great ei 
for which the Bible was written, " All scripture is pro- 
fitable .... that the man of God may be thoroughly 
furnished unto all good works." 1 Among the earliest 
portions of it, and possibly the first written of all, we 
find the decalogue, which as we have seen is a brief 
code of laws, prescribing the duties of men to God and 
to one another. This summary exhibits the morality 
of the Old Testament ; and its authority is recognised 
in all the teachings of Christ and his apostles. Christ 
taught, " Verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth 
pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the 
law, till all be fulfilled;" 2 and the apostles of Christ 
instructed men, both by example and precept, to delight 
in the law, and fulfil its requirements. Some books 
are commended for the incidental inculcation of pure 
morality ; but to make men pure and perfect, has been 
the grand aim of the Bible from its origin. 

We do not enter at present into the historical ques- 
tion respecting the origin of the Bible. The senses 
which nature has given me, testify that the book lies 
before me on the shelf; and I can as soon doubt my own 
existence as to doubt its presence. The moral powers 
with which nature has endowed me, testify, after care- 
ful examination, that the moral system which it presents, 
is transcendently excellent, and precisely adapted to 
guide men into all duty. The volume before me was 
printed and bound a few years ago in a neighboring 
city ; but the printer and binder never claimed the au- 
thorship of the moral system which the volume contains, 
and if impenetrable darkness concealed its authorship, 
the system itself shines forth in brightness and beauty. 

1 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17, 2 Matt. v. 18. 



PERFECT PBECEPT. 49 

Apart from all inquiry into the origin of the natural 
world, we admire the beauties of the landscape and the 
flowery plain ; and whatever may have been the origin 
of the Bible, human beings are false to the noblest 
powers with which nature has endowed them, if they do 
not admire the morality of the Bible, and conform their 
lives to its teachings. 

Let us, then, come to this light by which our steps may 
be guided through all the intricacies of life's way. The 
heathen philosophers lighted torches to find the right 
path, in the thick darkness which enveloped them ; but 
the Bible shines upon us, like the sun in the firmament. 
Whatever scepticism may say concerning the origin of 
the sun, and of the Bible, let it be our wisdom to walk 
in the light which they give. And when natural reli- 
gion points out to us the admirable contrivance by which 
the sun is adapted to the accomplishment of good, and 
leads our thoughts from the glorious luminary to the 
glorious Being who made it ; let us ask her to apply the 
same mode of reasoning by which she finds out that God 
made the sun, to the inquiry, who is the author of that 
system of morality which the Bible contains. 

We freely admit that iniquity abounds, even in Chris- 
tian countries, and that many who profess to follow 
Christ are often guilty of odious vices. But it is never- 
theless true that the general morality of lands where 
Christianity prevails, and especially where it prevails in 
its purest form, is greatly superior to that which is found 
in pagan nations. And it is true that the brightest 
examples of virtue that have ever adorned the world, 
have been exhibited in the lives of sincere Christians. 
We must not estimate the excellence of Christianity by 
the character of those who falsely assume the Christian 
name. But where are the bright examples of virtue in 



50 PERFECT MORALITY. 

heathen lands ? The very philosophers who taught men 
morals, were addicted to hateful vices ; and the very 
systems of ethics which they taught, tolerated such 
vices (157). The deists of modern times, in forming a 
system of morals, have many advantages over the heathen 
philosophers, derived from the prevalence of Christianity 
around them ; but notwithstanding these advantages, 
their morality in theory as well as in practice, falls much 
below the Bible standard. 

Deists have charged the Bible with being an immoral 
book, because it contains descriptions of iniquity which 
shock virtuous feeling. But they might with equal pro- 
priety charge courts of justice with being sources of im- 
morality, because they bring to light the murders, thefts, 
robberies, and other crimes, which are perpetrated in hu- 
man society. The Bible as a faithful record gives a true 
history of crimes as well as of virtues ; but it exhibits 
crime as odious, and presents the strongest possible mo- 
tives against the practice of it. They who study the 
Bible most diligently, and most fully imbibe its princi- 
ples, abhor iniquity most cordially, and exhibit in their 
lives the highest degree of purity and virtue. The ini- 
quities which disgrace human society, are not learned 
from the Bible ; but abound most where the Bible is 
least known and revered ; and, when fully rampant, have 
banished the holy volume from common use, and from a 
place in the affections of the heart. 

Deists charge Christianity with the religious persecu- 
tions which history has recorded. They allege that the 
pagan religions tolerated each other, and that persecu- 
tion was unknown till Christianity arose. But when 
Christianity arose, did it begin and continue the work 
of persecution ? Did Christ persecute Herod and Pon- 
tius Pilate? Did Peter, James, and John form an 



PERFECT PRECEPT. 51 

inquisitorial court, and persecute the Jewish priests and 
elders ? Did the Christian disciples, everywhere through- 
out the Roman empire, persecute the pagan world for 
three hundred years, and deluge the earth with heathen 
blood. Surely the fact that persecution slept till Chris- 
tianity arose, demonstrates that Christianity differs from 
all the corrupt religions which the god of this w r orld 
peacefully tolerated, and demonstrates also that those 
religions which practise persecution under the name of 
Christianity, differ widely from the religion taught by 
Christ and his apostles. But is deism peaceful and 
tolerant ? When in the minority, it contents itself with 
reproaches, reviling, and bitter hatred ; but what it can 
accomplish when exalted to power, let the history of the 
French revolution testify. 

Other corruptions which are seen in papal and merely 
nominal Christianity, have given abundant occasion for 
infidel invectives. Under the name of priests, the 
ministers of the gospel have been reproached as univer- 
sally mercenary, ambitious, intriguing, and hypocritical. 
But deists themselves know that this was not the charac- 
ter of the apostles and first ministers of Christ ; and 
they know how T to distinguish between those who truly 
exhibit the apostolic spirit, and those who, without that 
spirit, claim to succeed the apostles in office. The fact 
that hypocrisy is enumerated among the priestly vices, 
demonstrates that the accusers of the priesthood under- 
stand the distinction between the mercenary, ambitious, 
and intriguing religious officials, and the true ministers 
of Christ ; and the very accusations which they bring 
against the false pretender, are a compliment to Chris- 
tianity. But when a deist is an immoral man, who 
charges him w T ith hypocrisy ? Who reproaches him, and 
sneers at him, for having acted inconsistently with his 
5* 



52 PERFECT MORALITY. 

religious profession "i He may be mercenary, ambitious, 
and intriguing ; but no one complains that he is hypo- 
critical in religion. The very manner in which deists 
inveigh against the vices of professed Christians, and 
extenuate the vices of their own party, shows clearly 
that, deists themselves being judges, consistency does not 
require the morality of deism to be as pure as that of 
Christianity. 

The lives of men are books which all may read. In 
the lives of the apostles, and all true disciples of Christ, 
we may read the true character of Christian morality. 
Deism has its apostles ; and it will be of great practical 
utility to study in their lives the character of infidel 
morality (158). 

The divine origin of the Bible is sufficiently proved 
by the perfection of its morality ; since human wisdom, 
even in the wisest and best of men, could not have in- 
vented so perfect a system. But the strength of the 
argument becomes greatly increased by the considera- 
tion that the Bible, if it is not what it claims to be, is 
an imposture by which mankind have been grossly de- 
ceived. Then wicked deceivers have invented the purest 
and most sublime system of morality the world has ever 
known ; and have contributed more by their imposture 
to purify and elevate the morals of mankind than has 
been accomplished by all other agencies combined. In 
all other cases human imposture exhibits some marks by 
which the sagacious observer may detect the motive from 
which it originated. But everything in the Bible is at 
war with the supposition that it originated in avarice, 
pride, love of fame, love of power, or any other of the 
motives which usually produce imposture. It cannot 
be that wicked men conceived so pure a system ; that 
by every utterance which they made they condemned 



PERFECT EXAMPLE. 53 

their own fraud ; and that they have preserved others 
from perpetrating like iniquity by denunciations so ter- 
rible that the very imagination of them is unwelcome to 
the minds of transgressors. The holy Bible cannot be 
the work of unholy deceivers. 

The argument from the perfection of Bible morality 
is of itself decisive ; but its force is increased when the 
antiquity of the book is taken into consideration. Men 
have, at different periods of the world, invented various 
artificial lights to be used in the night. At first, the 
rude torch and the glimmering lamp dispelled the dark- 
ness ; and, afterwards, the ingenuity of man obtained 
superior illumination from the candle, the chandelier, 
the gas-light, and the Drummond light. But God's 
great luminary for dispelling darkness from the face of 
the earth, and shedding on it the light of day, was per- 
fect in its origin ; and it does not now shine with greater 
brilliance than when it was first set in the firmament. 
So, the sciences which come from human investigation 
have, from small beginnings, made progress towards 
perfection ; but the system of moral science taught in 
the Bible was perfect from its origin, and when all human 
science was in its infancy. That the oldest writing in 
the world contains a complete ethical system, which the 
most cultivated wisdom of man has never improved, 
cannot be accounted for, except on the supposition 
that it came from God. 

Section II. Perfect Example. 

The morality of the Bible tends to form a perfect 
character. Not content with outward virtue, it regu- 
lates the desires and affections of the heart, and estab- 
lishes pure habits of thought and action. It may be 
objected that such moral perfection is unattainable, and 



54 PERFECT MORALITY. 

that therefore the morality of the Bible is impractica- 
ble. But the perfection of Bible morality, instead of 
being a valid objection to it, is its highest recommenda- 
tion, and proves its divine origin. It sets before all, 
even those who have made the highest attainments in 
virtue, a prize yet in advance, and engages all in perse- 
vering efforts to win it. 

The practicability of Bible morality is proved by the 
lives of holy men recorded in the book. In their cha- 
racters different virtues are illustrated, blended more or 
less with human frailty. But pre-eminent among them 
is the character of Jesus Christ. His life is an exem- 
plification of the perfect morality which is enjoined in 
the divine code, and the perfection of his example de- 
serves to be studied as a peculiarity distinguishing the 
book which contains his biography from all human pro- 
ductions. In making this use of the account which the 
New Testament gives of Jesus Christ, it is not neces- 
sary to assume the truth of the gospel history. This 
will be proved hereafter. At present we do not deter- 
mine whether the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 
John have described a real or a fictitious character. It 
will suffice for our present purpose to show that the 
character which they have delineated is one of perfect 
moral excellence. 

1. The several virtues were perfectly exemplified in 
the character of Jesus Christ. 

Devotion to God was manifest in all his conduct. He 
came to do his Father's will, and accounted the service 
his meat and drink. At the age of twelve he said, 
" Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's busi- 
ness?" 1 and at the close of his life he was able to ad- 

1 Luke. ii. 49. 



PERFECT EXAMPLE; 55 

dress his Father in the language, " I have finished the 
"work that thou gavest me to do." 1 And this devotion, 
■which was apparent in all his actions, was manifested 
also in the habitual communion which he held with his 
Father by prayer. For this exercise of devotion he 
often withdrew to some lonely place, and sought the 
stillness of the night. Nor did he cease to hold this 
communion with his Father, when pressed by a thronging 
multitude ; as at the grave of Lazarus, and in the pre- 
sence of thousands whom he fed in the wilderness on a 
few loaves and fishes. When about to send forth his 
apostles in the beginning of that ministry on which was 
to depend the future success of his religion, he spent a 
whole night in prayer. His agonizing prayer thrice 
uttered in the garden of Gethsemane, evinced his disposi- 
tion to hold communion with his Father, who was at the 
very time presenting to his lips the cup of bitterness 
which he was to drink. In this prayer appears his per- 
fect resignation to his Father's will. He was obedient 
even unto death. His zeal for his father's glory had 
been manifested by twice purifying the temple of God, 
and by rescuing the divine law from the corrupt glosses 
and opposing traditions of the Jews ; but it was mani- 
fested in a still higher degree by the perfect worship he 
himself rendered, and by his perfect obedience to the 
law in all the extent and spirituality of its requirements. 
In the review of his life he was able to say at its close, 
" I have glorified thee on the earth." l 

Perfect benevolence to men was displayed in his con- 
duct. His mission from heaven to earth was one of 
love ; and in dying for us he gave the highest exhibi- 
tion of love that the mind of man can conceive. All 

1 John, xrii. 4. 



66 



PERFECT MORALITY. 



his intercourse with men was a perpetual outflowing of 
love. With reference to his immediate attendants, the 
apostles, it is said, " Having loved his own, he loved 
them to the end," l and, with reference to the young 
man who was turning away from him, unwilling to 
become his follower, it is said " Jesus beholding him 
loved him." 2 His travels and toils were all for the 
benefit of mankind; for he "went about doing good." 3 
He mingled with the poor, the suffering, and the guilty, 
to confer such benefits as their necessities required; and 
everywhere he evinced for them the utmost tenderness 
and compassion. When multitudes were fainting in the 
wilderness, he had compassion on them and supplied 
them with food. In cases innumerable he exerted his 
miraculous power to heal the sick. When he met a 
poor widow who was sorrowfully accompanying her only 
son to the grave, his tender heart was moved with pity, 
and the disconsolate mother was soon made joyful by 
receiving in her arms her lost son restored to life. The 
sympathy of his heart was manifested at the grave of 
Lazarus ; and his compassion for the guilty inhabitants 
of Jerusalem was expressed in language of inimitable 
tenderness : " Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest 
the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto 
thee ! how often would I have gathered thy children 
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under 
her wings, and ye would not !" 4 

To the primary virtues, piety and benevolence, all 
other virtues were added in his perfect character. He 
was without selfishness. His miraculous power, often 
exerted for the relief of others, was never used for his 



1 John. xiii. 1. 2 Mark, x. 21. 

3 Acts, x. 38. * Matt, xxiii. 37. 



PERFECT EXAMPLE. 6Y 

own relief. He made no account of his own wants. 
Though weary, hungry, and thirsty, at Jacob's well, he 
did not seek rest by inactivity, but seized the opportu- 
nity to instruct the Samaritan woman ; and though he 
asked drink of her, he was less intent on receiving from 
her the needed draught, than on communicating to her the 
water of life. The disciples had gone to the city to buy 
food ; but the demands of hunger were to him less 
pressing, than his solicitude to do good ; and the food 
which they brought was less welcome to him than the 
opportunity which he had enjoyed of conferring benefit : 
"I have meat to eat that ye know not of." 1 He once 
said, " The Son of man hath not where to lay his 
head:" 2 but this expression was used, not as a com- 
plaint of his hard lot, but for the benefit of the person 
addressed. Though he could multiply loaves and fishes, 
he was content to live in poverty, and to be dependent 
for the necessaries of life on the ministrations of a few 
women. 3 Such was his superiority to avarice, that he 
allowed a thief to be his treasurer ; and such his supe- 
riority to ambition, that he rejected regal honors when 
pressed upon him. He never sought the favor of the 
rich and great by compliance with their wishes, as he 
might have done in the case of Herod who desired to 
see him work a miracle ; nor did he ever through fear 
of men flatter their vices, or withhold needed rebuke. 
His control over his passions was perfect. He was 
never betrayed into rashness, or had occasion to recall 
a word which he had uttered, or apologize for a deed 
which he had done. Though his hearers were often so 
annoyed by his words that they sought to kill him, it 

1 John, iv. 3. 2 Matt. viii. 20. 

3 Luke, viii. 3. 



58 PERFECT MORALITY. 

was not at any indiscreet utterance which he had reason 
to regret. Questions were repeatedly proposed to him 
with the malicious design of ensnaring him ; but the 
wisdom and firmness which such exigencies demanded, 
never failed him. No act of injustice has ever been 
laid to his charge ; and no one has ever alleged that 
guile was found in his mouth. Even Pilate, who ordered 
that he should be crucified, confessed, " I find no fault 
in him." 1 The traitor Judas bore testimony to his 
innocence ; and his testimony is of the greater value 
because he was one of the twelve who were the familiar 
attendants of Jesus, and the chosen agents for execut- 
ing his designs and propagating his religion. If there 
was, in his designs or any part of his conduct, aught 
that was iniquitous, Judas had the best opportunity for 
knowing it, and the strongest motive possible for dis- 
closing it ; but he made no such disclosure. On the 
contrary, remorse drove him to relinquish the reward 
which he had received for his treachery; to confess 
before his accomplices in guilt, " I have sinned in that 
I have betrayed the innocent blood," 2 and to seal the 
sincerity and truth of this confession by the act of sui- 
cide. In view of Christ's character, infidels who would 
destroy his religion from the earth, are either hushed 
into silence as if abashed in his presence, or are com- 
pelled to break forth in panegyric. 

II. The virtues which appear in the character of 
Jesus Christ blend with each other in perfect harmony. 

Such is the frailty of human nature that our virtues 
are always liable to be tinged with the vices to which 
they are nearest. Firmness is liable to degenerate into 
obstinacy ; and gentleness into compliance with tempta- 

1 John, xix. 4. 2 Matt, xxvii. 4. 



PERFECT EXAMPLE. 59 

tion. Devotion may become tarnished by austerity, or 
may lead to such retirement from the world as is incon- 
sistent with the proper duties of life ; and, on the other 
hand, he who performs these duties is ever in danger of 
not keeping himself unspotted from the world. In the 
character of Jesus Christ the virtues so blend that each 
is perfect. Perfect firmness unites with perfect gentle- 
ness. Devotion to God combines with the most active 
performance of duties to men. Towards the guilty he 
exhibited compassion, but without any indulgence to 
their crimes. He mingled freely with publicans and 
sinners, but was nevertheless holy, harmless, undefiled, 
and separate from sinners. Such were his meekness 
and gentleness that he did not break the bruised reed, 
or quench the smoking flax ; and yet his voice spoke 
terror to hypocrites, deceivers, and oppressors. 

III. The virtues of Jesus Christ accorded perfectly 
with his relations to God and men. 

The duties of men diifer according to the relations 
which they sustain. The duties of father and master 
differ from those of son and servant. Hence we cannot 
estimate rightly the virtues of Jesus Christ, without 
considering the relations which he sustained both to 
God and man. 

In the person of Jesus Christ divinity and humanity 
were united. As God he did and said things which 
would be unlawful for any creature however exalted. 
Peter, 1 Paul, and Barnabas 2 would not bear for a mo- 
ment that such honor should be rendered to them as is 
due to God only ; but Jesus never rejected divine honor, 
or evinced uneasiness when it was offered. On the con- 
trary, he claimed to be the Son of God in a sense which 

1 Acts, x. 25, 26. 2 Acts, xiv. 13, 15. 

6 



60 PERFECT MORALITY. 

implied equality with God, declared himself to be one 
with the Father, required that men should honor the 
Son as they honor the Father, and connected his own 
glory with that of the Father in a manner which would 
have been unsuitable to any mere creature. If we keep 
in view the deity of our Lord, we perceive the propriety 
of all that he claimed, and we learn to appreciate more 
correctly his wonderful condescension. He spoke of his 
Father's house and its many mansions with such fami- 
liarity as a prince would manifest in speaking of his 
father's palace, but without any of the pride which a 
vainglorious prince would be likely to betray. Nothing 
is said for the sake of ostentation. All is easy and 
natural ; and what he says of the celestial world, or of 
his own power and glory, is never for the purpose of 
gratifying curiosity, but of doing good to those who 
heard him. He asserted and proved his power to for- 
give sins, that men might come to him for forgiveness 
and everlasting life ; and he affirmed his ability to give 
rest, that he might induce the laboring and heavy laden 
to come and obtain it at his hands. 

Though on proper occasions, and for suitable pur- 
poses, he claimed to be the Son of God, yet the title 
which he usually assumed was 'the son of man.' He 
was human as well as divine, and took on himself the 
form of a servant. In this nature he suffered ; and in 
the endurance of suffering exhibited the patience and 
resignation which it is our duty to imitate ; and in this 
nature he sustained relations, the duties of which he 
performed as an example for his followers. During his 
childhood and youth he was subject to his parents, 1 
rendering to them filial respect and obedience ; and his 
subjection appears to have continued, until at the age 

1 Luke, ii. 51. 



PERFECT EXAMPLE. 61 

of thirty years, he entered on his public ministry. 
And amidst the agonies of the cross, his tender regard 
for his mother, who was probably then a widow, was 
touchingly exhibited in his commitment of her to the 
care of his beloved disciple John. 1 He acknowledged 
also his relation to the civil government exercised over 
his country, and paid to Caesar the tribute required. 2 

IV. The virtues of Jesus Christ were perfectly 
adapted to the work of establishing a pure religion in 
the world. 

He taught the purest morality, not only by precept, 
but by his own example. He made no attempt to re- 
strain vice, or gain converts to his religion, by physical 
force, or by the allurements of ambition or sensual 
gratification. Such means would have tended to estab- 
lish a religion far different from the spirituality and 
purity of true Christianity. Mahomet, with his example 
of sensuality, with his promise of a voluptuous paradise, 
and with the military power by which he extended his 
conquests, established such a religion as corresponds to 
the character of its founder, and the means employed 
to give it success. But Jesus Christ employed such 
means only as, if successful, would produce a pure 
religion, and such means only as nothing could render 
successful but divine power. Yet he speaks of the ex- 
tension and final triumph of his religion with perfect 
confidence ; and this faith in the divine power for the 
support of a good cause, is a divine virtue which the 
Founder of Christianity exhibited in full perfection. 
Now we ask not whether he did really found a pure 
religion, which has existed to the present time; nor 
even whether he was a real personage. It is enough 

1 John, xix. 26, 27. 2 Matt. xvii. 24-27. 



62 PERFECT MORALITY. 

for our present purpose that the Bible exists, and that 
it tells the story of Jesus Christ. Whence came that 
wonderful story ? 

Near the beginning of the Christian Era the greatest 
of Latin poets employed his extraordinary genius in 
describing a hero. It was not a picture of a real 
character, but a picture drawn by the brilliant imagina- 
tion of the poet, and with full poetic license. This 
hero is made illustrious for piety towards his father, 
and towards the gods. Yet so far is his character from 
being pure and faultless, that a chief event in his history 
is a criminal love affair, causing the suicide of a female 
whom he wickedly deserted. Such was the hero of the 
iEneid, the boasted poem of the Augustan age. How 
came the fishermen of Galilee so far to surpass the 
splendid genius of the Mantuan bard ? What inspired 
them, — not to compose a poem, such as the heathen 
attributed to the inspiration of the muses ; for the 
gospels have not the art and decorations of a poem, — 
what inspired them to portray, in a style of unrivalled 
simplicity, a character of unparalleled excellence ? If 
the gospel history is a fiction, the inventors of the fiction 
must have been divinely inspired. That Galilean fisher- 
men should, without supernatural aid, invent such a 
character as Jesus Christ, and give such a description 
of their astonishing invention as is found in the Gospels, 
is far less credible, than that the character really ex- 
isted as they have described it. But if the account of 
Jesus Christ given in the Gospels is true, Christianity, 
the religion which he founded, is true, and of divine 
origin. And were there reason to believe that Jesus 
Christ is a fictitious and not a historical character, it 
would still be true, that the perfect morality exempli- 
fied in the wonderful fiction, and otherwise taught in 
the Bible, must bo of superhuman origin. 



CHAPTER IV. 
SUPERHUMAN DOCTRINES. 

THE DOCTRINES TAUGHT IN THE BIBLE ARE NOT OE 
HUMAN ORIGIN, AND MUST HAVE PROCEEDED EROM 
GOD. 

It has been usual to divide the evidences of Christi- 
anity into External and Internal ; but it is not easy in 
all cases to apply the distinction. The beneficial effects 
discussed in Chapter II. may be referred to the class of 
External evidences, because they are, so to speak, visible 
fruits by which the tree is known. The morality dis- 
cussed in Chapter III. may be referred to the class of 
Internal evidences, because it is found in the Bible 
itself, and is seed from which good fruit may be ex- 
pected, but is not itself the fruit. For the same reason 
the doctrines of the Bible belong to the class of Inter 
nal evidences ; but in viewing their adaptedness to the 
character and condition of man, they approach to the 
nature of External evidences ; just as prophecy, here- 
after to be considered, is Internal because found in the 
Bible, and External because its efficiency as proof de- 
pends on its fulfilment, of which in many cases the 
Bible does not give us information. 

To the whole class of Internal evidences an objection 
presents itself, which deserves consideration. It may be 
stated thus : We are incapable of judging a priori what 
kind of revelation Grod would make to men; and an 
attempt to judge savors of presumption. 

6* E (63) 



64 SUPERHUMAN DOCTRINES. 

To pronounce that the Bible possesses internal evi- 
dences of its divine origin, is to assume, as the objec- 
tion alleges, that we are capable of judging a priori 
what kind of a book the Divine Being would prepare. 

This objection is equally applicable to all the deduc- 
tions of natural religion. We cannot judge a priori 
what sort of a world God would create, and yet natural 
religion finds in the volume of creation internal evidence 
that it proceeded from a divine author. An objection 
which would abolish the whole system of natural reli- 
gion, must be invalid. It should have no other use than 
to guard us against arrogant reasoning. If the Bible 
contains some things which we should not have expected 
to proceed from God, we ought not arrogantly to infer 
that the book cannot be God's ; for this would be to 
assume that we are capable of judging in all particulars 
what sort of a book God would make. The same arro- 
gant reasoning would decide that God did not make the 
world, because it contains some things which we would 
not have expected to proceed from a being of infinite 
wisdom and benevolence. 

Some, who admit the use of Internal evidences, con- 
sider them wholly posterior and subsidiary to those 
which are External. The authority of a document from 
the court of one nation to that of another, is not deter- 
mined by the matter which it contains, but by the 
external proofs of its origin. These establish its authen- 
ticity before the contents of the document are examined. 
So the External evidences of Christianity, it has been 
urged, ought to be first studied ; and, when by means 
of these we have satisfied ourselves that the Bible has 
come from the Sovereign of the Universe, we should 
then reverently receive and study its contents ; but 



SUPERHUMAN DOCTRINES. 65 

should not attempt, from the character of the contents, 
to judge of the authority from whence they proceed. 
This restriction, if applied to natural religion, would 
render it necessary for us to possess historical proof 
that God made the heavens and the earth, before we 
can look into them for proofs of his power and God- 
head. The case is not analogous to that of a document 
from an earthly court, which men might readily coun- 
terfeit. Nature and the Bible contain within them- 
selves proofs of their divine origin, which cannot be 
counterfeited, and which directly meet the eye of the 
humble and well-disposed inquirer, and bring conviction 
to his understanding and heart, when he has not the 
means and opportunity necessary for the investigation 
of historical proofs. 

The moral constitution of human nature supplies 
some means for forming a judgment concerning the 
morality of the Bible. The reasonableness and excel- 
lence of a law prescribing duties to man, we may expect 
the mind of man to be capable of perceiving ; but the 
doctrines of the Bible bear relations to God which are 
incomprehensible to finite minds. It is therefore espe- 
cially necessary in our investigation of them that we 
remember our weakness, and avoid arrogance in our 
judgment. But though we may not presume to judge 
a priori what doctrines a revelation from God ought to 
teach, we are capable of judging what doctrines a 
human imposture would be likely to originate. If the 
Bible is not what it claims to be, the book of God, it is 
a mere human production ; and we know enough of man 
to judge of his works. To this test we shall bring the 
doctrines of the Bible in the next section, with a view 
to determine whether they are of merely human origin. 



6Q SUPERHUMAN DOCTRINES. 

Section I. Superiority to Man's Inven- 
tion. 

The character of God exhibited in the Bible is not a 
human invention. Men have made .multitudes of gods, 
some of gold, silver, wood, or stone ; and others, invisi- 
ble creations of the imagination, having natures and 
attributes corresponding to the fancies of those who 
invented them. Such are the gods of heathen nations ; 
but the God of the Bible differs wholly from all these 
man-made divinities. The refined nations of Greece 
and Rome had gods that were not omnipotent, omni- 
scient, omnipresent, or unchangeable. They opposed 
and thwarted each other's plans ; and their supreme 
deity had not the power and wisdom necessary to gov- 
ern the subordinate divinities, much less to govern the 
whole universe. A God, infinite in wisdom and power, 
unchangeable in all his perfections, and present at every 
point in the universe, to work all things after the coun- 
sel of his will, never found a place among the inventions 
of men ; yet such is the God of the Bible. And still 
more, the moral perfections of Jehovah place him at an 
infinite distance from the deities of human invention. 
The heathen gods were even more debased in morals 
than their worshippers ; and when men were virtuous, 
it was not because of their religion, but in spite of it. 
A religion emanating from a holy God, and exhibiting 
his perfections as the source and model of all moral ex- 
cellence, is unknown in all the history of the world, 
except in the Bible ; and hence the Bible has not the 
character of a human invention. 

The moral government of God, which the Bible 
throughout reveals, is not a human invention. The 
heathen had deities that presided over different parts of 



SUPERIORITY TO MAN'S INVENTION. 67 

nature ; but the idea of a universal government directed 
to moral ends never entered their mythology. Some 
notion of rewards and punishment after death, and of 
retribution for crime in the present life, was derived 
from natural religion ; but the conception of a moral 
government taking cognisance of every action, intention, 
and desire, and ruling over all by a law of perfect mo- 
rality, never entered into the minds of any who have 
attempted to instruct mankind in morality or religion, 
except from the Bible. To whom were the writers of 
the Bible indebted for this grand conception ? 

It cannot be a human invention. 

The Scripture doctrine of redemption has not the 
characteristics of a human invention. Natural religion 
may give some knowledge of God and moral government, 
but none whatever of redemption. No deist, I think, 
has ever maintained that natural religion teaches the 
propriety or necessity of a sacrifice for the expiation of 
guilt : but, on the contrary, an infidel objection which 
is frequently urged against the gospel, is, that the doc- 
trine of vicarious sacrifice is inconsistent with the prin- 
ciples of justice. The sacrifices which have formed a 
part of the various heathen religions, were probably de- 
rived by tradition from an ancient revelation to the 
fathers of our race. But these fathers themselves did 
not understand the full import of their sacrifices, and 
much less was it understood by their degenerate sons. 
The idea of a perfect sacrifice, which should explain the 
meaning and remove the necessity of all other sacri- 
fices, and which being made by the Son of God incar- 
nate should honor the justice of God, sustain his moral 
government, effectually remove sin and provide for the 
salvation of guilty men, — this idea is too grand and 
glorious to have proceeded from human invention. 



68 SUPERHUMAN DOCTRINES. 



Section II. Adaptedness to Man. 

In the adaptations with which nature abounds, we 
find manifestations of contrivance which demonstrate 
that the world has proceeded from an intelligent author ; 
and the number, extent, and perfection of these contriv- 
ances, furnish proof that the intelligence in which they 
originated must be infinite. In this way we study the 
volume of nature, and learn from it the existence and 
wisdom of God. By a similar study of the Bible, we 
may learn the wisdom of its author from its adaptedness 
to the character, condition, and wants of man, for whose 
benefit it was designed. 

Before the introduction of Christianity the heathen 
nations, who had been left to the light of natural reli- 
gion and the obscure glimmerings of tradition, were in- 
volved in gross darkness. They had no knowledge of 
the true God, no means of moral reform, and no correct 
apprehension of the chief good or the mode of secur- 
ing true happiness. They possessed genius, and pushed 
their investigations with industry ; but their understand- 
ings, darkened by depravity, failed to discover the 
truth. Conscious of their failure, they sighed for know- 
ledge which unaided reason could not attain. This felt 
want the volume of revelation is precisely adapted to 
supply. It gives knowledge of the true God, provides 
for the moral reform of mankind, and teaches the nature 
of true happiness, and the mode of obtaining it. 

The very manner in which revelation addresses us is 
adapted to our ignorance. When human reason has 
fainted in its pursuit after the knowledge needed, the 
Bible gives immediate possession of the good sought. 
It puts an end to vain efforts, uncertain conjectures, 



ADAPTBDNESS TO MAN. 69 

and perplexing doubts, by authoritative declarations 
from the source of infallible truth. 

The Bible explains the mystery of man's condition. 
He possesses intellectual powers which place him at the 
head of this lower world, far exalted above all the other 
creatures which inhabit it ; and moral powers which 
adapt him to relations higher than the earth, and more 
enduring than the present life. Yet, with all these 
noble endowments, he is abject, dependent, and wretched. 
The mystery of his condition revelation explains. It 
unfolds the moral government of God, and tells, not as 
a philosophic theory, but as a historical fact, the simple 
story of man's fall. The mystery is solved ; and the 
weakest intellect, if willing to learn, may clearly com- 
prehend the incongruity between the high endowments 
and the deep degradation of man. 

The explanation which the Bible gives of our present 
fallen condition is so perfect that we learn our own 
character from it better than from our own conscious- 
ness. Even heathen wisdom could deliver the precept, 
"Know thyself;" but means of self-knowledge are 
needed beyond those which man's deceitful heart sup- 
plies. God searches the heart, and his word is a dis- 
cerner of its thoughts and intents. Thousands have 
denied that the Bible description of human depravity 
applies to them, simply because they are strangers to 
themselves. When they begin to understand their true 
character, they begin to understand the correctness of 
the Bible description ; and when they have made further 
progress in self-knowledge they confess with astonish- 
ment the accuracy of the dark picture, and are con- 
vinced that it must have been drawn by the Searcher 
of hearts. 

The Bible meets man in his fallen condition, and 



70 SUPERHUMAN DOCTRINES. 

precisely adapts its remedy to his actual necessities. If 
human philosophy could teach all that ought to suffice 
for man, it cannot overcome the waywardness of his 
disposition, and make its instructions effectual. But the 
Bible, besides revealing a mode of acceptance with God 
wholly undiscoverable by philosophy, reveals also a 
power which applies the truth to the renovation of the 
heart. The Bible exhibits the wisdom of its author, 
not only in describing our moral disease with more than 
human skill, but in providing a remedy which human 
sagacity never could have adapted so admirably to our 
necessities. 

The Bible not only meets man in his fallen condition, 
but leads him out of it to the true end of his being. It 
takes cognisance of the intellectual and moral powers 
with which he is endowed, and provides for their noblest 
development and exercise. It brings him back to God 
from whom he has wandered, and opens before him the 
fulness of the Deity for his admiring contemplation and 
adoring love. 

The Bible is adapted to the condition of man in all 
ranks and circumstances of life. Such is the simplicity 
of its instructions, that the child may learn its lessons 
and become wise to salvation ; and such are the grandeur 
and extent of its revelations, that the greatest human 
genius may in the study of them become conscious of 
its weakness and insufficiency, and may exclaim with 
Paul, " the depth of the riches both of the wisdom 
and knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judg- 
ments, and his ways past finding out I" 1 

To the poor especially, that class of men for which 
human philosophy never sought to provide^ the gospel 

1 Rom. xi. 33. 



COMPLETENESS OF SYSTEM. 71 

adapts its provisions, and supplies precisely such relief, 
support, and comfort, as are needed in the hut of 
poverty, and in the chamber of affliction and death. 

Section III. Completeness of System. 

As divine contrivance appears in the adaptedness of 
Bible doctrine to the character and condition of man; 
so it is discoverable in that fitness of the several doc- 
trines to each other, by which they become one doc- 
trine, one complete system. The completeness of the 
system was not apprehended by the ancient prophets, 
who understood not their own predictions concerning the 
sufferings of Christ and the glory which should follow. 1 
Yet this system began to be developed in the very 
beginning of the revelation. The moral government of 
God appears in the probation to which he subjected our 
first parents ; and his justice, in the sentence pronounced 
after their transgression. But with justice mercy was 
blended, in the promise that the woman's seed should 
bruise the serpent's head. The acceptance of Abel's 
sacrifice gave further intimation of mercy, and the 
whole system of sacrifice in the Old Testament was pre- 
paratory and subsidiary to the redemption by Christ, 
which the New Testament reveals, and the whole, there- 
fore, makes but one system. But the Jews are living 
witnesses that the Old Testament was written long prior 
to the New ; and the fact that the great system began 
to be disclosed by men who did not understand it, 
demonstrates conclusively that it did not proceed from 
their wisdom. The more we study the system of re- 
vealed truth, the more we discover its completeness and 
perfection ; and hence, to a heart rightly disposed, the 

1 1 Pet. i. 10, 11. 



72 SUPERHUMAN DOCTRINES. 

study of the Bible brings direct and satisfactory prool 
that God is its author. 

As in nature, so in revelation, simplicity and grandeur 
characterize the works of God. 

The simple law of gravitation binds the material uni- 
verse together, and the centripetal and centrifugal forces 
which move the planets in their orbits, though always 
conflicting with each other, yet harmoniously combine 
in their eifects to produce the movement on which the 
whole plan of nature depends. The moral government 
which provides for man's obedience and God's holiness 
and justice, and redemption which provides for man's 
salvation and God's mercy, harmoniously combine their 
conflicting tendencies to effect the glorious purpose of 
divine grace. Revelation, like creation, expands into 
grandeur before our admiring view ; and the simplicity 
discoverable in both furnishes an argument that they 
are the work of the same Author. Such harmony per- 
vades the system of nature, that the vast movements on 
which the return of the seasons, and of day and night, 
depends, are necessary to the sustenance of animal life, 
and are therefore tributary to the young sparrow in its 
nest ; and the power of gravitation which pervades and 
controls these vast movements, holds the feeble nestling 
in its place or determines its fall to the ground. Like 
harmony and unity may be seen in revelation. The 
grand principles which it unfolds, and which have their 
bearing on the whole universe of intelligent creatures 
and on their condition through eternal ages, are tribu- 
tary to the humble believer in his hourly experience, 
and have their hourly use in regulating his obedience 
and faith. The completeness and perfection of the 
system he does not comprehend, and the vastness of the 
interests affected by it he is wholly unable to compute ; 



CONNECTION WITH MORALITY. 73 

but nevertheless his obedience has a relation to God's 
moral government ; and his faith, to the method of sal- 
vation by Christ. As he increases in spiritual know- 
ledge, he will have clearer discoveries of the principles 
which regulate his faith and obedience ; and as he com- 
prehends more and more of the simple, grand, and har- 
monious system, he will obtain increasing evidence and 
more assured conviction that its author is God. 

Section IV. Connection with Morality. 

The influence which the Bible actually exerts in pro- 
moting morality was considered in Chapter II. ; and 
this beneficial influence was, in part, accounted for in 
the last chapter, in which it was shown that the Bible 
teaches morality by perfect precept and perfect example. 
But mere precept does not insure obedience, and mere 
example does not insure imitation. Sanctions and mo- 
tives are needed, and these the doctrines of Christianity 
supply. 

1. The Bible enforces its morality by reference to 
the moral government of God and the retributions of 
eternity. It reveals an almighty God, rewarding and 
punishing men according to their works, and measuring 
the duration of these rewards and punishments by his 
own eternity. The morality of heathenism or deism is 
without any such sanction. Among the heathen, the 
immortality of the soul was involved in doubt; and 
among deists, with all the light which they have bor- 
rowed from Christianity, this important truth is but 
dimly perceived, and hence it produces but little practi- 
cal effect on their morality. The Bible proclaims the 
doctrine authoritatively and indubitably, and the believer 
in Christianity receives it as a declaration of God, who 
cannot lie. Hence the precepts of the Bible are habitu- 



74 SUPERHUMAN DOCTRINES. 

ally viewed by him in connection with the sanctions 
affixed by the almighty Governor of the world. 

2. The morality of the Bible is recommended by its 
likeness to the moral perfections of God. 

The objects of religious worship among the heathen 
have always been senseless or impure deities ; and the 
God of the deists is distinguished by natural rather 
than moral excellence. But Christianity introduces its 
worshippers to a God of perfect holiness, and teaches 
them to worship in the beauty of holiness. Hence, 
while it inspires the mind with reverence for the Infinite 
One, it presents his moral beauty as an object of love, 
and secures obedience to the precepts of morality by 
gaining over the affections of the heart to holiness. 

3. The doctrine of redemption by Christ furnishes 
the strongest imaginable motives to holiness. Its appeal 
to the heart is not by terror, but by the melting power 
of love. 

A sense of God's goodness in giving his Son for us, 
and of Christ's compassion in dying for us, overcomes 
the heart, leads to repentance, and constrains to a life 
of holy obedience. 

4. All the doctrines of the gospel have a holy aim 
and tendency. They form a complete system ; and the 
end of the system is holiness, or conformity to God's 
moral image. The Bible nowhere teaches its doctrines 
to gratify curiosity. It leaves questions of mere 
curiosity without answer. False religions incite their 
votaries by promises of initiation into mysteries ; but 
the alluring promise of Christianity is an advance in 
holiness here, and complete holiness hereafter. The 
religion proposes no enjoyment, and claims no excel- 
lence apart from holiness. In this it differs from every 
false religion, and manifests its divine origin. 



BENEFICIAL TENDENCY. 75 



Section V. Beneficial Tendency. 

In Chapter II. we considered the beneficial influence 
of Christianity in the effects which it has actually pro- 
duced. In the last chapter we considered its perfect 
morality taught by precept and example ; and in the 
present its superhuman doctrines adapted to enforce its 
morality and to elevate and bless mankind. We see a 
cause in Christianity adapted to produce the beneficial 
effects which have been attributed to it, and we are 
therefore left without doubt that these benefits which 
have been observed to attend the religion are its proper 
effects, and not merely accidental results. 

The effects which Christianity has actually produced 
are not the proper measure of its tendency. Were the 
obstacles which oppose it removed, all its tendency 
would be converted into effect ; but, while these 
obstacles remain, their number and the strength of their 
opposition must be estimated, as well as the effect 
actually produced, in order to a just estimate of the 
tendency. 

The influence of Christianity on individuals is opposed 
by their unbelief. The truth does not affect them, be- 
cause their minds do not receive it. Many even of 
those who profess Christianity are not true believers, as 
many who claimed to be Moses' disciples did not believe 
Moses. 1 When the truth forces a partial entrance into 
the unsanctified mind, it encounters strong resistance 
from the enmity of the human heart to God and holi- 
ness. And when the sanctifying power of the truth 
has regenerated the heart, its full effect is hindered by 

1 John, v. 46. 

7* 



76 SUPERHUMAN DOCTRINES. 

unholy affections and passions which remaining depravity 
keeps alive and operative. 

The tendency of Christianity to benefit the world is 
hindered, on the one hand, by the want of zeal in its 
propagation and the unholy lives of its professors ; and, 
on the other hand, by the powerful opposition of the 
world, the flesh, and the devil. Wickedness prevails in 
all the departments and usages of society, in the organ- 
ization and administration of civil government, in the 
various false religions which exist, and in the various 
corruptions of the true religion. Long-continued habit 
has fortified iniquity in its strongholds, and before the 
gospel can gain complete success, it must overcome all 
these strongholds, and successfully wrestle with princi- 
palities and powers, with the rulers of the darkness of 
this world, and with spiritual wickedness in high places. 

To estimate the tendency of Christianity to benefit an 
individual or the world, we must suppose all its tendency 
to become effect, by the removal of opposing obstacles. 
We must suppose that the individual receives the gospel 
with ready and unwavering faith, and embraces its 
precepts and doctrines with a glad heart, and that every 
thought and every imagination is brought into subjection 
to it. 

The effect on such a mind is joy unspeakable and full 
of glory, a commencement of heaven on earth. 

Communities, nations, and the whole world, are made 
up of individuals. If Christianity tends to produce per- 
fect purity and perfect bliss in each individual, its ten- 
dency is to fill the world with such inhabitants, and 
therefore to banish all crime and misery from the earth. 
It would purify the organization and administration of 
civil governments, or rather it would render civil govern- 
ment unnecessary ; it would produce a universal preva- 



EXPERIMENTAL PROOF. 77 

lence of the true religion, freed from all corruption ; and 
it would bring down to earth the holiness and felicity of 
heaven. Such a state of things, believers in the prom- 
ises and prophecies of the Bible are expecting, and 
toward it they see the world advancing in the progress 
of Christianity. 

The beneficial tendency of Christianity has often been 
acknowledged by statesmen and legislators. They per- 
ceive its utility to give sanction to oaths, and to supply, 
by the power of an enlightened conscience, the unavoid- 
able defects of human laws. Infidels also have often 
expressed their willingness to retain Christianity for the 
sake of its moral benefit to the masses of mankind, and 
have sometimes prudently concealed their sentiments 
that they might not do harm to the community. What 
other religion is there in the world that any wise man 
would wish to prevail universally ? But in view of the 
benefits which Christianity has already produced, and 
which it continues to produce more and more as obstacles 
are removed, and in view of the tendencies discoverable 
in its morality and doctrine to render the benefits per- 
fect and enduring, every wise and benevolent man must 
say, let it prevail over all opposition, and fill the earth. 

Section VI. Experimental Proof. 

The facts on which the theories of philosophy are 
established, are sometimes of so rare occurrence that 
few persons have opportunity to observe them. In these 
cases the student who investigates the theory is com- 
pelled to rely for proof of it on the testimony of those 
who have witnessed the facts. In many other cases it 
is possible to institute experiments which will bring the 
phenomena under the observation of the student himself, 
and obviate the necessity of any other testimony than 



78 SUPERHUMAN DOCTRINES. 

that of his own senses. The same difference occurs in 
the evidences of Christianity. The proof from miracles 
depends on the testimony of those who saw the miracles ; 
but the proof derived from the beneficial tendency of 
the religion may be subjected to experiment by any one 
who desires, and the facts necessary for making out the 
proof, may be learned from the testimony of conscious- 
ness. 

Christianity is a remedial religion. Men are morally 
diseased, and Christianity offers a remedy to restore 
them to health. They are unholy and unhappy, and it 
offers the means of sanctification and felicity. Thou- 
sands have testified that they have used the remedy 
proposed, and have found it effectual, but no one is 
compelled to rely on their testimony, since he may try 
the remedy for himself, and ascertain the truth of its 
pretensions by his own personal experience. 

We have before noticed the power of the Bible to 
probe the human heart, and reveal its depravity. Paul 
teaches that by the law is the knowledge of sin, 1 and 
states how in his own experience he obtained by the 
commandment knowledge of lust or unholy desire in his 
heart, 2 and how the commandment slew his self-righteous 
hopes. 3 The perfect morality of the Bible serves to 
show the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Let any man 
study the law of God, making it his meditation by day 
and night, and honestly applying it to his conscience, 
and he will learn experimentally whether its tendency 
to produce conviction of sin, and self-abasement before 
God, is such as Paul attributed to it. 

The gospel professes to bring to sinners the means 

1 Rom. iii. 20. 2 Rom. vii. 7. 

3 Rom. vii. 9. 



EXPERIMENTAL PROOF. 79 

of sanctification. Christ prayed, " Sanctify them through 
thy truth. Thy word is truth i" 1 and he sanctifies and 
cleanses his church " with the washing of water by the 
word." 2 The same perfect law that convicts of sin, 
directs to obedience and holiness. The character of 
God is exhibited in the Bible that men may be holy as 
God is holy. 3 The retributions of eternity are unfolded 
that we may be holy in all manner of conversation. 4 
And the grace of God that bringeth salvation by Jesus 
Christ is proclaimed, teaching us that denying ungodli- 
ness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, right- 
eously, and godly in this present evil world. 5 The 
tendency of the gospel to save from sin is taught in 
innumerable passages of Scripture ; and it is expressly 
declared that the gospel is the power of God unto sal- 
vation to every one that believeth. 6 Now let any one 
who is willing to bring this matter to the test of his 
personal experience, habitually contemplate the perfect 
character of God revealed in the Scriptures ; let him 
habitually keep before his mind the day of judgment, 
and the happiness and misery consequent on the awards 
of that day ; let him receive into his heart the good 
news of salvation by the death of Christ, and in his 
feelings and contemplations live habitually at the foot 
of the cross ; let him do all this, and then inquire 
whether he finds in it no tendency to save from the love 
and power of sin. Let him ask what else has equal 
tendency, and to what else will he trust if this fails. 

The gospel is good news, glad tidings. They who 
received it anciently had gladness of heart, joy unspeak- 

1 John, xvii. 17. 2 Eph. v. 26. 

3 1 Pet. i. 1G. 4 1 Pet. i. 15. 

5 Tit. ii. 11, 12. 6 Eom. i. 1G. 



80 SUPERHUMAN DOCTRINES. 

able and full of glory. They had comfort and consola- 
tion in the midst of sorrow and trials, and an inward 
peace which the world could not take away. Since the 
gospel claims a tendency to produce such happiness, 
any man who desires may test. its pretensions by a fair 
experiment on himself. Let him, as a guilty, depraved, 
and wretched sinner, receive the message of salvation 
by Christ ; let him contemplate the fulness of the salva- 
tion provided, and its adaptedness to his necessities ; let 
him listen to the promise of free pardon and full justifi- 
cation to all who believe, and of grace to help in every 
time of need ; let him attend to the assurance that, 
whatever may be his trials and sorrows, all things shall 
work together for his good, and let him fix his faith on 
the promise of eternal life given in Christ. 

If in all this he finds no tendency to relieve an aching 
heart, to calm an agitated breast, and to inspire the 
troubled and sinking spirit with consolation, he may 
pronounce that the promises of the gospel are vain, or 
rather that his experience differs from that of all others 
by whom the trial has been fairly made. 

The Bible not only, like a skilful physician, describes 
our spiritual malady better than we could ourselves, but 
it also, with like skill, describes the symptoms which 
indicate the progress of cure by the remedy which it 
applies. 

The various exercises of the renewed heart it accu- 
rately delineates. The godly sorrow, the humility, the 
reverence, the hope, the patience, the brotherly love, 
and every other grace of the Holy Spirit by which the 
converted man is fitted for his new life, the Bible 
describes. 

Especially it explains the struggle between faith and 
remaining unbelief, the conflict between simple faith in 



EXPERIMENTAL PROOF. 81 

Christ and a self-justifying spirit, and the warfare 
between the law in the members and the law of the 
mind, in a manner which indicates a perfect knowledge 
of what is experienced by the Christian under the 
teaching of the divine spirit. These things the unre- 
newed man knows not ; but let him try the experiment 
proposed if he would ascertain whether these things are 
so ; and when he has learned these truths let him ask 
whence the Bible obtained all this knowledge. 

It is a doctrine of Christianity that the gospel is 
made effectual by the accompanying power of the Holy 
Spirit. The sanctification and comfort of believers are 
attributed to the Holy Spirit. He helps their infirmi- 
ties in prayer, and gives inward strength for any service 
which they perform. He begins the work of grace in 
the heart by shedding abroad the love of God ; and 
throughout the whole course of their spiritual lives 
Christians live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, are led 
by the Spirit, enjoy the communion of the Spirit, and 
have the inward witness of the Spirit. Such is the 
Bible description of the Christian life. 

If true, human reason never discovered it ; for human 
reason, in its pride and self-sufficiency, is slow to receive 
the doctrine. Yet every one who is skilled in Christian 
experience receives the doctrine, and cheerfully ac- 
knowledges his absolute dependence on the Holy Spirit 
for all interna] grace. To the man who does not under- 
stand the necessity of the Holy Spirit's influence, the 
promise that our heavenly Father will give his Holy 
Spirit to them that ask him, possesses very little of 
meaning and interest ; but to him who has learned his 
helplessness and dependence, no promise in the covenant 
of grace is more rich in blessing ; and there is no prayer 
recorded in the sacred volume in which he can more 



§2 SUPERHUMAN DOCTRINES. 

cordially unite than in that of the Psalmist, " Take not 
thy Holy Spirit from me." 1 In the agreement of his 
experience with the Bible the Christian has an evidence 
which no other man can possess or understand, that the 
Bible is the word of God. Herein is fulfilled the decla- 
ration, " The secret of the Lord is with them that fear 
him, and he will show them his covenant." 2 

The evidence arising from Christian experience is 
suited to persons in all the conditions of life. The 
illiterate, who are unable to appreciate the historical 
evidence which learned men value, and who are wholly 
unable to cope with learned infidels in argument, have 
a conviction on which their hearts rest in perfect quiet, 
and against which the arguments and scoffs of infidels 
are unavailing. To the learned Christian also the ex- 
perimental evidence is of the highest value. Other 
evidence has to him its use ; but this abides with him as 
a perpetual source of confidence and joy. He has ex- 
amined other evidences, and has laid up in his memory 
the conviction which the examination produced ; but the 
evidence from Christian experience is not a past judg- 
ment laid up in the memory. It is like the immediate 
proof which the beams of the sun give to the beholder 
that the luminary is in the heavens. 

The evidence from experience increases in strength as 
the believer makes progress in the divine life. The 
more he enjoys the communion of the Holy Spirit, the 
more sensible is he of the presence and influence of 
that divine agent. 

Every prayer for the influence of the Holy Spirit, 
and every consciousness of having received answer to 
the prayer, gives an increase of strength to his faith. 

1 Psalms, li. 11. 2 Psalms, xxv. 14. 



CONNECTION WITH HISTORICAL FACTS. 83 

And he knows by experience that nothing so much 
darkens his mind to the evidences of Christianity as 
departure from Christian duty. 

While he lives near to God, all is clear. 

From observation on his own experience, he learns 
that the secret of infidelity is an unholy life. The man 
whose heart is right, finds nothing in the Bible to object 
to ; but on the contrary, clearly perceives in it direct 
evidence of its divine origin. 

Section VII. Connection with Historical 
Facts. 

The morality of the Bible is a perfect system with- 
out regard to the history of its promulgation, or of its 
exemplification in the lives of good men, and of Jesus 
Christ. But the Bible history is useful in illustrating 
it, and teaching us to apply it practically in the regula- 
tion of our conduct. So the moral government of God, 
which would be an important doctrine, if the Bible con- 
tained no history, is instructively and impressively 
illustrated by the history which the Bible records of 
God's dealings with man in past ages. 

But the doctrine of redemption by Christ is wholly 
dependent on facts which are reported in the New Tes- 
tament. The connection of this doctrine with the re- 
maining doctrines of the system, and with the divine 
morality taught by precept and example, and the union 
of all in a singular book of most beneficial influence, give 
strong assurance, previous to all historical inquiry, that 
the facts reported must be true : but history waits to 
confirm our faith, and Christianity calls fearlessly for 
its testimony. 

8 



CHAPTER V. 
TRUTHFUL HISTORY. 

THE HISTORY CONTAINED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IS 
TRUE. 

The subject of the present chapter is limited to the 
historical books of the New Testament, which are 
the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Old 
Testament history will be considered hereafter ; and the 
truths of the entire Bible will be proved in the chapter 
on Inspiration. 



Section I. Credibility of History. 

We are so placed in the world, that much of our 
necessary knowledge is derived from the testimony of 
other persons. The merchant sends his ship to lands 
which he never saw. How does he know that they 
exist? Other persons have visited these lands and 
from their testimony he obtains his knowledge, which 
he uses with undoubting confidence. He believes as 
much in the existence of India and China as of his own 
counting-house which his eyes see daily. 

As of the distant, so of the past, we obtain our 
knowledge in a large part from the testimony of others, 
and to reject all testimony concerning the past would be 
to destroy all legal proceedings, to annul all laws, to 
abolish civil government, and to put an end to most of 
the business and enjoyments of social life. Men must 

(84) 






CREDIBILITY OF HISTORY. 85 

believe and will believe the duly authenticated records 
of the past. They may be deceived sometimes by ficti- 
tious history, but in general they learn to distinguish 
between truth and fable : and if there are some histori- 
cal facts concerning which they entertain doubts, there 
are others which they as firmly believe as if they had 
seen them with their own eyes. No American more 
firmly believes that his own parents lived and watched 
over him in his helpless infancy, than he believes that 
George Washington existed and fought the battles of 
his country. No man of information entertains a doubt 
concerning the existence of Napoleon Bonaparte, Oliver 
Cromwell, Julius Caesar, or Alexander the Great ; or 
discredits the general facts of their history. The 
truth of historical facts can be proved so as not to leave 
room for doubt in any candid and well-informed mind. 
It cannot be demonstrated by such processes of reason- 
ing as establish the Newtonian theory of gravitation, 
or the geometrical truth that the three angles of a 
triangle are equal to two right angles. Historical facts 
are not learned by philosophical or mathematical reason- 
ings. Such reasonings cannot prove that there is a 
Bible on the table where I write, or that I was 
accustomed to read the Bible in the days of my child- 
hood ; yet I am not less assured of these facts than if 
they were demonstrated by the clearest processes of 
reasoning. The proofs rest, in one case, on the testi- 
mony of the senses ; and, in the other, on the testimony 
of memory ; and memory and the senses are as much 
entitled to confidence, as reason : and as seldom de- 
ceive us. 

If our own memory and senses are entitled to confi- 
dence, so also are those of other men : and if the 
knowledge which other men obtain by observation, is 



86 TRUTHFUL HISTORY. 

truthfully communicated to us, it becomes as valuable 
to us, as if it had been the result of our own personal 
experience. By means of language, information is com- 
municated from one mind to another ; and by means of 
written language, it is embodied in a durable form, in 
which it serves to benefit future generations. History, 
therefore, relies on the testimony of the senses and 
memory of those who make the original observations of 
facts : and on the veracity with which these observa- 
tions are reported and committed to record. Memory 
and the senses sometimes deceive ; but no sane man will 
therefore wholly reject their testimony. Men sometimes 
deceive each other by the utterance of falsehood : but 
were all confidence in human testimony withdrawn, our 
courts of justice would be closed, the commerce of the 
world would cease, and all the benefits of society would 
be banished from the habitations of men. The possibility 
of being deceived is sufficient to awaken caution ; and 
wise men will exercise the necessary degree of caution 
without denying to themselves the benefits resulting 
from belief in testimony. Universal distrust and scep- 
ticism are irrational, a diseased state of the mind un- 
fitting man for the duties and enjoyments of life, and 
therefore subversive of virtue and happiness. It would 
be madness to doubt that the Bible which I see on the 
table really exists, or that I was accustomed to read the 
Bible in my childhood ; and it would be madness to 
doubt, that the Bible has been a well-known book in 
America, from the time that the pilgrim fathers landed 
at Plymouth. In tracing the lines of history back 
through a long succession of years, it is not unwise to 
proceed with increased caution, as we approach remoter 
periods ; but as in the outset so in the progress of our 
investigations, it is necessary to distinguish between 






GOSPEL HISTORY. 87 

caution and scepticism. The existence of the Bible 
may be traced backward, from the first settlement of 
America through the various revolutions of the old 
world, to a remote period of antiquity, of which its 
records are the chief and to a great extent the only 
memorials. No reason can be given why the history 
contained in the Bible is not worthy of at least as much 
confidence as any other on which we rely for our know- 
ledge of the past ; and its narratives so harmonize with 
all the records and monuments of the past and so inter- 
twine with them that all history must be rejected, if 
confidence cannot be reposed in the historical records 
of the Bible. 

Section II. Gospel History. 

Christianity exists in the world, and it is not unrea- 
sonable to expect that among the written records or 
oral traditions of the past, some account should be 
found of its origin. The persons who now receive its 
doctrines form a large part of the human race, and a 
succession of such persons in great numbers may be 
traced by undoubted history in various nations of the 
earth through many past ages. All these, however dif- 
fering in language, manners, intelligence, or any other 
peculiarities, agree in believing the follovnng facts. 

The author of Christianity was born in Judea 
under the reign of Augustus Cesar, and was cru- 
cified near Jerusalem under the reign of Tibe- 
rias. Though of humble rank, he claimed to be 
the Messiah whom the Jews had long expected. 
He preached new doctrines, and in confirmation 
of them performed extraordinary works. after 
suffering crucifixion he was interred in a tomb ; 
but on the third day arose and showed himself 
s* 



88 TRUTHFUL niSTORY. 

ALIVE TO MANY OF HIS FOLLOWERS, TO WHOM HE GAVE 
COMMANDS TO PROPAGATE HIS RELIGION THROUGH THE 
EARTH. 

These principal facts with many connected details are 
recorded in the New Testament, a book which Chris- 
tians hold sacred, and have held sacred for many ages. 
We shall hereafter prove the divine origin and au- 
thority of this book ; but it will answer our present 
purpose to show that it is a truthful history, worthy of 
as much confidence as any other book of history on 
which men rely for the knowledge of past events. 

The principal facts of Christianity are few and sim- 
ple, and they occurred publicly and within a short space 
of time. They were not, like most of the facts com- 
prised in the history of nations, connected with the 
diplomacy and intrigues of courts, and to be made out 
from numerous documents prepared at distant times and 
places. They were all witnessed by the persons who 
first published them ; and the publication was made at 
the place and immediately after the time of their occur- 
rence. The number, agreement, and character of the 
witnesses were sufficient to give credit to their testimony : 
and it obtained credit among persons who had ability 
and opportunity to judge of its truth. 

The Christian facts differ widely in their character 
from the fables of mythology in which the origin of 
heathen religions is involved. The heathen gods were 
perhaps deified men of whose history we have no certain 
account ; and the stories of their mythology may have 
originated in facts which have been converted into won- 
ders by mistakes of language, or the transforming power 
of a vivid imagination. But these fables are without 
place and date, and have no binding connection with 
the facts of well-authenticated history determining and 



GOSPEL HISTORY. 89 

fixing their position in the system or aggregate of 
historic truth. They resemble an imaginary country 
which has no connection with other countries, and to 
which geography can assign no definite locality. But 
it is far different with respect to the origin of Chris- 
tianity. Around the time and place of its origin 
authentic history casts a bright light. In all the ages 
which preceded we know that Christianity did not exist, 
for not a trace of it can be found in all the memorials 
of those ages ; and in all the countries out of Judea, 
the new religion was wholly unknown, at the time when 
it is said to have originated in that well-known land. 
With these facts consider the definiteness of the state- 
ments concerning the time and place of Christ's birth, 
public ministry, and death, of which we may take as a 
specimen the words of the evangelist Luke: "Now in 
the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pon- 
tius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being 
tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch 
of Iturea and of the region of Trachonitis, and 
Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas 
being the high priests, the word of God came unto 
John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness." 1 We 
find in this manner date and place assigned to the gos- 
pel facts, and are able to perceive clearly their connec- 
tion with other history : and from the time and place 
assigned to them, their connection ramifies through 
succeeding time, and extends to all lands. The intro- 
duction of the new religion is clearly seen to be an his- 
torical fact with which ten thousand other facts become 
connected, and all the records and monuments of history 
give consistent and indubitable testimony on the subject. 

1 Luke, iii. 1, 2. 



90 TRUTHFUL HISTORY. 

It is scarcely credible that any sane man should seri- 
ously take the history of Christ to be an astronomical 
allegory. May not some future visionary astonish the 
world by explaining the history of Columbus's disco- 
very of America as an allegorical record of observations 
made by an astronomer on the course of an extraordi- 
nary meteor which shot westward through the sky ? If 
the account of this successful voyager is too modern to 
admit such allegorical interpretation, let some ingenious 
trifler try his skill on Suetonius' Lives of the Twelve 
Caesars, and demonstrate that this is an allegorical re- 
presentation of the twelve months which constitute the 
calendar year. He may take, as a good starting-point, 
the undeniable fact that two of the months bear the 
names of Julius and Augustus, two of the Caesars. If 
even the age of the Caesars is too modern for such 
allegorizing, let it be remembered that Julius Caesar 
died before Jesus was born. The facts that Julius 
lived, waged war in Gaul, and was assassinated in the 
Roman Senate, are admitted by all to belong to real 
and authentic history ; but they are not so near to 
modern times, nor half so well attested, as the facts, 
that Jesus lived, preached his gospel in Judea and 
Galilee, and was crucified on Calvary. 

The gospel facts are not moral or religious myths. 
We may conceive it possible that moral or religious 
truths, expressed in figurative language, may be mis- 
interpreted by mistaking metaphor or allegory for literal 
language ; and that myths originated by some such pro- 
cess may come to occupy the place of real history. But 
the gospel is not a system of myths. Its facts have 
real agents, known place, fixed time, historical antece- 
dents, historical consequents, historical connections, and 
all the attributes of historical realities. The testimony 



TESTIMONY OF THE CHURCH. 91 

on which they were first believed, and on which they 
continue to be believed, is such as could not possibly 
attend a system of myths. 

Section III. Testimony of the Church. 

The Christian church now existing in the world is a 
standing monument of the principal facts connected with 
the origin of Christianity. On these facts the doctrines 
of the religion are founded. It teaches the doctrine of 
the resurrection, and establishes the doctrine on the 
fact that Christ rose from the dead. It teaches the 
doctrine of atonement for sin, and it founds this 
cardinal doctrine of the system on the fact that Christ 
was crucified. Of these facts the Christian ceremonies 
are an abiding memorial. Baptism refers to the death, 
burial, and resurrection of Christ, 1 and every one who 
is baptized into Christ is baptized into the faith that 
Christ died, was buried, and rose again. The Lord's 
Supper is a memorial of Christ's body broken and blood 
shed for sin ; and every communicant declares in this 
ceremony his belief of the fact that Christ died for 
sin. Even the moral duties of the religion are enforced 
with a constant reference to these facts. A motive to 
brotherly love is drawn from the fact that Christ loved 
us, and gave himself for us ; 2 and, after his example, 
Christians are required to lay down their lives for the 
brethren. 3 The grand motive to obedience is thus pre- 
sented : " The love of Christ constraineth us, because 
we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all 
dead. And that he died for all, that they which live 
should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto 
him which died for them and rose again." 4 And on 

1 Romans, vi. 3, 4. 2 Eph. v. 2. 

3 1 John, iii. 16. * 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. 



92 TRUTHFUL HISTORY. 

the gospel facts were founded the hopes which animated 
Christians amidst the trials and sufferings that they 
underwent. In the belief that Christ died and rose 
again they cheerfully suffered in hope of a joyful resur- 
rection, 1 and of reigning for ever with their risen 
Kedeemer. 2 In the propagation of Christianity the 
gospel facts were continually made known. The 
preaching of the gospel was the preaching of Christ 
crucified, and of Christ risen from the dead. 3 Without 
the promulgation of these facts the gospel was not 
preached, and without a belief of these facts the gospel 
was not received. These facts were kept present to the 
minds of Christians in every prayer which they offered, 
and in every act of religious service which they per- 
formed : for they were taught to hope for accept- 
ance through Christ only. Every church that was 
formed was established on a belief of the gospel facts ; 
and every minister that was ordained engaged to pro- 
claim these facts. How could a religion thus founded 
on facts be introduced into the world and gain 
credence among mankind, if the facts never occurred ? 
If Christianity originated in Judea, under the reign 
of Tiberius and the government of Pontius Pilate, how 
could its ministers gain converts by telling the people 
that Jesus had preached in their midst and been pub- 
licly crucified among them, when every man who heard 
would know the utter falsehood of the declaration ? It 
is manifestly impossible that the religion should have 
been introduced and have gained credence at the time 
and place when and where Jesus is said to have been 
crucified, if the history of his ministry and suffering is 

1 Heb. xi. 35. 2 2 Tim. ii. 12. 

3 1 Cor. ii. 2 ; xv. 1-4. 



TESTIMONY OP THE CHURCH. 93 

fabulous. And if it was not introduced then and there, 



it is impossible that it should have been introduced at 
some subsequent time or distant place. It claims to 
have been introduced then and there, and to have 
spread from that time and place rapidly through the 
nations of the earth, and to have been handed down 
continuously through succeeding generations. Now 
if all this claim was without any foundation in fact, 
how could the originators of the new religion induce 
men to believe their statements ? They declared that 
the doctrine which they preached had been first pro- 
claimed in Jerusalem many years before, and when the 
facts on which it was founded had recently occurred ; 
that multitudes had been converted to the new faith ; 
that by opposition and persecution great publicity had 
been given to the new religion ; that men in great num- 
bers had travelled through all countries zealously 
extending the doctrine ; that churches maintaining the 
new faith had been organized throughout the known 
world ; that baptism and the Lord's Supper had been 
regularly and publicly observed in all these places as 
well-understood memorials of Christ's death and resur- 
rection ; and that assemblies for Christian worship had 
been held every Sabbath day. How could they declare 
all these things with any hope of being believed ? Their 
declaration would be known by every one to be false 
if no such religion had been heard of before; and it 
would be impossible for them to gain credence. 

These considerations show that the Christian church 
is a monument of the gospel facts ; that it is a monu- 
ment set up at the time when the facts occurred ; and 
that it is a monument, so to speak, on which these facts 
have ever been recorded so plainly as to be read by all 
the world. 



94 , TRUTHFUL II ISTORY. 

We have another consideration to add, which greatly 
increases the force of this testimony. The record is not 
only so plainly written that it may be known and read 
of all men, but it is written in the blood of the saints. 
Whether the Bible be true or false, and whether Chris- 
tianity be a divine religion or an imposture, it is an 
indisputable fact of history that multitudes have en- 
dured toils, sufferings, and death, for their adherence to 
the Christian faith. The patience and firmness with 
which these labors and sufferings were endured by the 
Christians of former ages, fully establish the sincerity 
of their faith : for though a false religion may have its 
martyrs, yet no one charges these martyrs with insin- 
cerity in their devotion to it. The Christian martyrs 
suffered and died, rather than renounce their religion, 
because they had a firm conviction of its truth ; and 
whence did this firm conviction arise ? It cannot be 
shown that they were fools or madmen ; and the gospel 
which they received was not a speculation which bewil- 
dered their minds, but a declaration of facts to be re- 
ceived on testimony, the sufficiency of which they were 
competent to judge. How, then, can it be accounted 
for that vast multitudes of men believed these facts from 
the time of their first promulgation, and believed with a 
conviction which the terrors of death were unable to 
shake ? The credence which the gospel obtained may 
be accounted for, if they who professed to have been 
eye witnesses of its facts, were men of known veracity, 
if all the circumstances attendant on the delivery of 
their testimony combined to establish its truth, and if, 
as is alleged, they confirmed their testimony with their 
blood. Thus, and only thus, can we account for the 
fact that Christianity is in the world. 



WRITTEN RECORDS. 95 

Section IV. Written Records. 

Let it be observed that the proof of the gospel facts 
which has been adduced, is independent of written docu- 
ments. But the Christian church, besides being itself 
a standing monument of the principal gospel facts, 
and besides keeping up a constant memorial of these 
facts by its ministry, its Sabbaths, its religious worship, 
and its ritual service, has also written records in which 
these facts are fully and clearly set forth. The chief 
of these is the New Testament. Without insisting, at 
present, that the book is given by inspiration from God, 
we may regard it merely as an historical record ; and we 
claim for Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the confi- 
dence due to truthful historians. These Christian men 
were not surpassed in veracity by the heathen historians 
Herodotus, Thucydides, Tacitus, and Suetonius. They 
had better opportunities of knowing the facts which they 
record : and they have exhibited in their narratives such 
artless simplicity, candor, freedom from passion and 
prejudice as are found in no other historians. If the 
four Gospels were written by their reputed authors, the 
history which they contain deserves the highest confi- 
dence, apart from the considerations of its divine autho- 
rity. A writer of history is believed without much 
inquiry into his private character for veracity, because 
his historical reputation depends on his general adhe- 
rence to the truth. If what he publishes to the world, 
the world may readily know to be a falsehood, he gains 
nothing to reward the labor of writing, and secures only 
his own infamy. A single historian is therefore be- 
lieved, when there are no facts or circumstances known 
which can discredit his testimony. When two unite 
their testimony in independent histories composed from 
9 g 



96 TRUTHFUL HISTORY. 

their own knowledge of facts, the confirmation which 
they give to each other is exceedingly great. Matthew 
and John had been personal attendants of Christ, and 
witnesses of his preaching, miracles, death, and resur- 
rection. Mark, the companion of Peter, is reported to 
have written his Gospel under that apostle's supervision. 
Luke, the companion of Paul, informs us that he had 
perfect knowledge of the facts which he records. We 
have, then, the life of Christ w r ritten by four contempo- 
rary historians, well qualified to perform the service 
which they undertook. Has any other individual ever 
lived whose biography has been transmitted to future 
generations Vfith equal attestation ? But it is not our 
present design to insist that the four Gospels were 
written by their reputed authors. The question of their 
authenticity is purposely postponed. It is enough for 
our present purpose that the principal facts recorded in 
the four Gospels have been believed by Christians from 
the origin of the religion, and form the basis of their 
peculiar system of doctrine and practice. Christianity 
had spread extensively before the Gospels were written, 
and their agreement with the faith already widely 
spread, is demonstrated by the favor and respect with 
which they were received. Proofs of such favor and 
respect abound in the Christian writings of all anti- 
quity. 

Section V. Christian Fathers. 

Next to the New Testament may be mentioned the 
writings of the apostolical fathers. Barnabas (14), 
Clement (15), Hermas (16), Ignatius (17), and Poly- 
carp (18). These men conversed with the apostles, and 
learned from their lips the gospel facts that are directly 
described (14 a, 15 a, 17 a, 18 a), or manifestly implied 



CHRISTIAN FATHERS. 97 

in the writings which they left, and which have been 
preserved to our time. 

After the apostolic fathers followed a long succession 
of Christian writers, who with the works which they 
have left, constitute an immense mass of testimony 
establishing beyond all possible doubt that vast multi- 
tudes of persons professing the Christian religion have 
lived during all these times, and have agreed in the 
belief of the gospel facts. These writers, moreover, 
made direct quotations from the New Testament, and 
allusions to passages in it ; and these are so numerous, 
that if the New Testament itself had been lost, it 
might in a great measure be recovered out of the writ- 
ings which the Christian fathers have left. In all these 
writings the highest respect is evinced for the New 
Testament ; and the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, 
Luke and John, are recognised as the acknowledged 
historians of Christ. 

While the Christian writers of past ages uniformly 
manifest the highest respect for the New Testament, 
they never speak of it as the original source of informa- 
tion respecting the gospel facts. On the contrary, 
each of the four evangelists furnishes evidence that 
these facts were first published orally, and that multi- 
tudes of converts were made to the religion before the 
facts were recorded in writing ; and Luke expressly 
testifies that 1 other written records had been attempted 
before he prepared the full and authentic account which 
he has left us. If the four Gospels when written had 
not agreed as to the gospel facts with the oral testimony 
which had been everywhere circulated by the twelve 
apostles and other first ministers of the religion, and 

1 Luke, i. 1. 



98 TRUTHFUL HISTORY. 

which had everywhere been received by the multitude 
of converts in all lands ; these Grospels could not have 
gained the respect and authority universally accorded 
to them. We have therefore full proof that all Chris- 
tian tradition, oral and written, establishes the truth of 
the New Testament history. 

Section VI. Heathen Testimony. 

Heathen writers have noticed the existence of Chris- 
tianity, so far as it fell in their way (49-62) ; and all 
that they have said respecting it corresponds with the 
history of it given in the New Testament, and by the 
Christian fathers. From these pagan authors, testimony 
may be drawn respecting the extensive spread of the 
religion, the cruel persecution which its disciples endured, 
the patience and firmness with which they suffered, the 
harmlessness and purity of their character, and the 
unyielding steadfastness with which they adhered to 
their faith even unto death. Some of the heathen 
writers expressly name Christ as the founder of the 
religion, and the object of Christian worship ; and those 
of them who wrote against the religion, never denied 
the great facts which lie at its foundation. 

Section VII. Jewish Testimony. 

The Jews were the first and most bitter persecutors 
of Christianity ; and, though no testimony to its excel- 
lence can be expected from them, their opposition to it 
from its origin to the present time, furnishes proof of 
its historical facts. The Mishna and Talmud exhibit 
hatred of Christianity ; but contain admissions of its 
historic truth. Josephus (48), a Jew, wrote soon after 
the time of Christ, and probably knew much more con- 
cerning the religion hated by his countrymen than he 



INCIDENTAL CONFIRMATION. 99 

was willing to write ; yet he lias borne express testimony 
concerning John the Baptist, and has in various other 
particulars confirmed the evangelic history. 

Section VIII. Incidental Confirma- 
tion. 

Besides the principal facts which it was the direct 
design of the New Testament history to record, it 
abounds with incidental allusions to places, persons, 
usages, and events. Many of these allusions are made 
with such particularity as demonstrates that the writers 
were accurately informed on the subjects of which they 
wrote. If the Gospels had been forged at some distant 
place or time, the writers would have made their allu- 
sions general ; or, if they attempted much particularity, 
would have fallen into such mistakes as would suffice to 
detect the forgery. But the allusions in the New Testa- 
ment harmonize exactly with all the known facts of 
geography and history. 

The geography of the Scriptures has been much 
elucidated by the labors of modern travellers. Dr. 
Robinson especially has rendered valuable service to 
the cause of truth by twice visiting the Holy Land, 
and by giving the result of his explorations in a very 
valuable work entitled " Biblical Researches." A com- 
parison of this work with the New Testament history 
confirms the accuracy of its geographical allusions. 

Dr. Lardner has devoted 519 pages of an octavo 
volume to a comparison of the incidental allusions which 
are made in the New Testament to persons, usages, and 
events (1-13) of which other history gives account. 
His investigations have brought to view incidental 
agreements, so many and so exact, that it is impossible 
9* 



100 TRUTHFU'L II I S T R Y. 

for any man of sound mind who duly considers them, 
to believe the gospels to be a forgery. 

Section IX. Internal Proof. 

The harmony of New Testament history with other 
history does not furnish more satisfactory proof of its 
truth, than may be derived from its consistency with 
itself. The forger of a complicated tale needs the exer- 
cise of much thought to make all the parts of his fiction 
harmonize with each other ; and it will be very difficult 
to conceal the care and effort which his task demands. 
But when the harmony, instead of being contrived by 
the author, is manifestly natural and undesigned, it be- 
comes a proof that the history describes facts taken 
from real life, and not fictions from the author's inven- 
tion. In this way Dr. Paley (72) in a work which he 
calls Horse Paulinse, has made out a most interesting 
and satisfactory demonstration that the New Testament 
history is true, by showing the undesigned coincidences 
between the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of 
Paul. He finds these coincidences so numerous, and so 
manifestly undesigned, that a suspicion of forgery is 
completely excluded. The history proves the genuine- 
ness of the Epistles ; and the Epistles prove the truth 
of the history. 

Section X. Monumental Proof. 

A further and most impressive proof of the Christian 
facts is furnished by existing monuments of antiquity. 
Coins and medals (70) have been found which prove 
facts incidentally stated in the New Testament ; and 
the catacombs (71) of Rome give indisputable testimony 
that the Christians of the second and third centuries 
were so numerous as to form a large part of the popula- 



CONCLUSION. 101 

tion in the imperial city ; that multitudes of them 
suffered martyrdom ; and that they believed the facts of 
Christianity as recorded in the New Testament. 

Section XI. Conclusion. 

If the gospel history is not true, why have we no 
correct accounts of the origin of Christianity ? So im- 
portant an event in the history of the world ought to be 
accounted for. It did not enter the world at a dark 
corner where it could not be observed, or in a dark age 
when no historian lived. Where then is the record ? 
We have no accounts different from that which is given 
in the New Testament. If the gospel history had not 
been true, its falsehood would have been exposed by its 
enemies, or by apostates from the religion. Judas, who 
had been admitted to such intimacy as was allowed to 
the twelve apostles only, betrayed his master to the 
chief priests and elders ; and, if he had possessed know- 
ledge of any imposture or secret plot to deceive man- 
kind, he was in precisely such circumstances as would 
have called forth a revelation of the wicked scheme. 1 
Many who were admitted to the fellowship of the apostles 
and first Christians, apostatized from their faith : but 
not one of them testified that the gospel facts were 
fictions or cunningly devised fables. The emperor 
Julian (60) was an apostate from Christianity ; and had 
most favorable opportunities from his acquaintance with 
Christians, his learning, and his high position, to detect 
the falsehood of the gospel history, if it had been false ; 
yet his testimony confirms the principal facts of the 
history. Celsus (53), Porphyry (57), and Hierocles (58), 
learned heathens who wrote against Christianity in early 

1 Matt, xxvii. 4. 



102 TRUTHFUL HISTORY. 

times, admitted that Jesus had lived, declared his doc- 
trines, wrought miracles, and been crucified ; and referred 
to the Gospels now in our possession as received accounts 
of his life and ministry. Though they desired to banish 
the hated religion from the world, they made no attempt 
to disprove its principal facts. 

When the various proofs which have been enumerated 
are duly considered, it will clearly appear that the his- 
tory of Julius Caesar, which no one doubts, is far less 
attested than that of Jesus Christ. Indeed Christianity 
has been so incorporated with the aifairs of the world 
for the last eighteen centuries, that if its history is 
rejected, all history of the past must be rejected with it. 
Julius left his mark on the history of Rome, by origi- 
nating the empire of the Caesars ; but the empire of the 
Caesars has long since fallen, and little can be found in 
the present condition of the world, which can serve as a 
memorial of his having lived. But Jesus has left a mark 
which all have seen, and which is now visible to all. The 
kingdom which he set up still stands, and is extending 
its conquests. And he who contemplates the present 
condition of the world, may trace the chief excellence 
of all that blesses the human race to the Author of 
Christianity. 

The resurrection of Christ as believed by Christians, 
is an event of the kind denominated miraculous. The 
subject of miracles is reserved for another chapter, and 
therefore we have not in this chapter entered into the 
inquiry, whether any supernatural agency was concerned 
in the event. The subject of inspiration is also post- 
poned to another chapter. The present chapter claims 
for the writers of the New Testament the respect and 
confidence due to truthful historians, reserving for fu- 
ture consideration the question, whether the record 



CONCLUSION. 103 

which they have given us possesses divine authority, 
and is infallibly true. All that this chapter aims to 
establish is, that the sacred writers have given us a 
truthful account of what was assuredly believed by 
themselves, and by all the Christians of ancient times, 
including the original witnesses of the facts recorded. 
As the inquiry into the miraculous character of the 
facts has not been introduced, so no notice has been 
taken of the confirmation which the original witnesses 
gave to their testimony by the performing of miracles. 
The resurrection of Christ was not a natural return to 
life after three days of suspended animation : but God 
raised him by supernatural power; and the belief of 
this great fact was not founded on the mere testimony 
of fallible men who might be deceived by external ap- 
pearances. But God confirmed their testimony by signs, 
wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy 
Ghost. 1 But the present chapter views the gospel facts 
in the light of ordinary history, and does not enter into 
the question, whether the events deemed miraculous 
were real miracles, or only appearances mistaken for 
miracles by the beholders. 

1 Heb. ii. 4. 



CHAPTER VI. 
PROPHECY. 



FULFILMENT OF WHICH DEMONSTRATES THAT THEY 
PROCEEDED FROM DIVINE FOREKNOWLEDGE. 



Section I. General View. 

The Bible contains, in addition to its morality, doc- 
trines, and history, an extensive system of prophecy, 
beginning with the third chapter of Genesis, and ending 
with the last chapter of Revelation. This system in- 
cludes the threatenings which enforce the moral pre- 
cepts, and the promises which have been given at vari- 
ous times for the comfort and encouragement of God's 
people. 

Among the important purposes which the prophecies 
of the Bible subserve, one of great value is the attesta- 
tion which they give to the divine origin of the book. 
God only possesses infallible foreknowledge of future 
events. Men generally acknowledge their ignorance 
of the future, and seldom attempt more than conjecture 
with respect to it. If any make higher pretensions, 
they either express their predictions in ambiguous lan- 
guage, such as was used by the heathen oracles, or the 
subsequent failure in the fulfilment of their predictions 
convicts them of imposture or delusion. But the pre- 
dictions of the Bible are made with such definiteness 

(104) 



GENERAL VIEW. 105 

and clearness, in very many cases, as to render the ful- 
filment of them indisputable ; and the number and 
exactness of these fulfilments prove beyond doubt that 
the predictions were not mere human conjectures. 

The design of prophecy was not to gratify our curi- 
osity, or to make us prophets ; but, when fulfilled, the 
fulfilment establishes our faith, and, by this more 
beneficial effect, proves the benevolence as well as the 
prescience of the Great Author. 

So thoroughly was the system of prophecy incorpo- 
rated with the dispensation of the Old Testament, that 
its divinely instituted rites were prophetic ; and persons 
and places were types of future things. And the whole 
system of prophecy has such relation to the great 
scheme of salvation by Christ, that the testimony of 
Jesus is the spirit of prophecy ; l that is, the testimony 
concerning him is the design, scope, and end of 
all prophetic revelation. The promise to our fallen 
parents was a prediction of Christ's first coming ; and 
predictions of his second coming close the sacred 
volume. 

The proof that the prophecies of the Bible proceeded 
from God, derives an increase of strength from the 
character of the prophets by whom they were delivered. 
They were men of holy lives, and labored to teach and 
persuade the people to live according to the law of God. 
They reproved the vices of the people, and denounced 
the judgments of God against powerful kings, and were 
rewarded for their faithfulness with persecution and 
death. So common was this ungrateful requital of their 
faithfulness, that Jerusalem, where much of their minis- 
try was performed, was characterized thus : " Thou that 

1 Rev. xix. 10. 



106 PROPHECY. 

killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent 
unto thee." 1 

The extent of the prophetic system, and its subser- 
vience to the divine work of salvation, cannot be tho- 
roughly understood without a careful study of the Holy 
Scriptures. He who would justly appreciate the argu- 
ment from prophecy, should prepare himself for the 
examination of particular prophecies by a general study 
of the Bible ; and in perusing the remaining sections of 
this chapter, he must take the pains to examine care- 
fully the passages of Scripture which are referred to. 
If he declines this labor, he dismisses the case without 
a fair hearing. 

Section II. The Messiah. 

The Old Testament contains numerous predictions 
concerning the Messiah, of which the fulfilment appears 
in the history that the evangelists have given of Jesus 
Christ. * 

The particulars so predicted may be briefly classified 
as follows : — 

I. Time of Ms birth. — 1. When the sceptre was de- 
parting from Judah. 2 2. While Jerusalem and the 
second temple remained. 3 3. When a general expecta- 
tion of him prevailed. 4 4. While the house of David 
remained distinct but depressed. 5 5. Within four hun- 
dred and ninety years from the commandment of Ar- 
taxerxes to restore Jerusalem. 6 6. In Bethlehem 
Ephrata. 7 

1 Matt, xxiii. 37 ; Luke, xiii. 34. 2 Gen. xlix. 10. 

3 Isaiah, xl. 9; xli. 27; Haggai, ii. 6, 9. 

4 Haggai, ii. 7 ; Mai. iii. 1. 

5 Isaiah, xi. 1 : liii. 2; Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24. 

6 Daniel, ix. 24, 25. 7 Micah, v. 2. 



THE MESSIAH. 107 

II. 7. His descent. — From Abraham. 1 Judah. 2 
David. 3 

III. 8. His forerunner. — John the Baptist. 4 

IV. 9. His person and history. — A virgin's son. 5 
10. His flight into Egypt. 6 11. His entrance into Je- 
rusalem. 7 12. The cry of the children that surrounded 
him. 8 13. His gentleness. 9 14. His zeal for his Fa- 
ther's worship. 10 15. The price at which he was betrayed 
and the use made of the money. 11 16. The treachery and 
end of Judas. 12 17. His last sufferings and his com- 
panions therein. 13 18. The offer of gall. 14 19. His 
bones unbroken, 15 and his side pierced with a spear. 16 
20. Taunts, desertion by his Father, his last words, the 
distribution of his garments. 17 21. His grave. 18 22. 
His body remaining uncorrupted. 19 23. His resurrec- 
tion on the third day. 20 24. The establishment of his 
kingdom. 21 

V. His ministry and works. 25. Miracles. 22 26. 
His preaching. 23 

VI. His humanity. 27. A branch from the root of 



2 Gen. xlix. 10. 

3 Isaiah, xi. 1 ; Psalms, lxxxix. 4, 27. 

4 Mai. iii. 1; iv. 5 ; Isaiah, xl. 3. 5 Isaiah, vii. 14. 
6 Hosea, xi. 1. 7 Zech. ix. 9. 

8 Psalms, cxviii. 26. 9 Isaiah, xlii. 2, 3. 

10 Psalms, lxix. 9. u Zech. xi. 12, 13. 

12 Psalms, lxix. 25. 13 Isaiah, liii. throughout. 

14 Psalms, lxix. 21. 15 Ex. xii. 46. 

16 Zech. xii. 10. 1T Psalms, xxii. ; xxxi. 5. 

18 Isaiah, liii. 9. 19 Psalms, xvi. 10. 

20 Jouah, i. 17 ; Matt. xii. 39, 40. 

21 Psalms, ii. 6 ; Ixxii. 8, 9 ; ex. 1, 2 •, Isaiah, ix. 7. 

22 Isaiah, xxix. 18 ; John, vii. 31. 

23 Isaiah, lxi. 1-3 ; Luke, iv. 16-29. 
10 



108 PROPHECY. 

Jesse, 1 a tender plant — rejected — oppressed 2 — a worm 3 
— servant of rulers 4 — stone of stumbling 5 — without 
comeliness, hated, reproached 6 — falsely accused 7 — a man 
of sorrows. 8 

VII. His divinity. 28. The Son of God 9 — the Shi- 
loh 10 — the Star of Jacob 11 — Living Redeemer 12 — chief 
corner stone 13 — the Lord of David 14 — king of Israel 15 — 
Emanuel 16 — Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, &c. 17 
— from everlasting 18 — Jehovah 19 — object of trust and 
worship. 20 

On this comparison of these predictions with their 
fulfilment the following observations may be made. 

1. The number of the facts furnishes complete proof 
that the agreement between the predictions and their 
fulfilment was not accidental. 

If in each particular case, the chances were equal 
that the event would or would not happen, the proba- 
bility of its happening may be expressed by the frac- 
tion J. The probability that two of the events should 
happen, each in agreement with the prediction, will, as 
mathematicians know, be properly expressed by the frac- 
tion J. For three independent events, the fraction will 
be J ; for four, -^ ; for five, ^ ; and, if we extend the 

1 Isaiah, xi. 1. 2 Isaiah, liii. 2, 3, 7. 

» 3 Psalms, xxii. 6. 4 Isaiah, xlix. 7. 

5 Isaiah, viii. 14. 6 Isaiah, liii. 2. 

7 Psalms, xxxv. 11, 20. 8 Isaiah, liii. 3. 

9 Psalms, ii. 7, 12. 10 Gen. xlix. 10. 

11 Numbers, xxiv. 17. 12 Job, xix. 23-27. 

13 Isaiah, xxviii. 16. u Psalms, ex. 1. 

15 Jeremiah, xxiii. 5, 6 ; xxx. 9 ; Zech. ix. 9. 

16 Isaiah vii. 14 ; Matt. i. 23. 

17 Isaiah, ix. 5, G. 18 Micah, v. 2. 

19 Jeremiah, xxiii. 6. 20 Psalms, ii. 12. 



THE MESSIAH. 109 

series by a regular geometrical progression, to compute 
for twenty-eight events, we shall find that the chances 
of so many agreements, if determined by chance, is as 
one to 268,435,436. 

It has been objected that some of the passages re- 
ferred to in the preceding enumeration do not appear 
in the Old Testament to have been designed for predic- 
tions, and are therefore improperly set down as prophe- 
cies of Christ. 1 It is not needful for our present pur- 

1 The objection has greater importance in its bearing on tho 
doctrine of plenary inspiration. 

Did the writers of the New Testament mistake for prophecies 
of Christ passages of the Old Testament which were not in- 
tended to be predictions? 

When these writers say that an Old Testament passage which 
they quote, was fulfilled in an event which they have recorded, 
nothing more may have been meant than that the language 
quoted fitly describes the event to which it is applied. 

Fulfilment, when there is no prediction, means nothing more 
than full agreement. This explanation is sufficient to vindicate 
the evangelists from the charge of mistake : but we are not at 
liberty to affirm that mere agreement directed them in applying 
these disputed passages. In some instances, as in John xi. 49- 
52, God meant language to be prediction, when it was not so 
understood by those who uttered it. In some instances, as in 
Ex. xii. 46, John xix. 36, language which was not predictive in 
its application to a type, was predictive in its relation to the an- 
titype. And in some instances, as in Hosea xi. 1, language 
which was not predictive in its application to part of a great de- 
sign, was predictive in relation to the consummation of that 
design. Israel was delivered out of Egypt for the purpose of 
establishing the true religion in Canaan, and sending it thence 
through the world ; but this design would have been frustrated, 
if Christ, the chief glory and excellence of Israel, had been 
suffered to remain in Egypt. Hence the words of the prophet 
not only fitly describe the event to which the evangelist has ap- 
plied them, Matt. ii. 15, but they would not have been fulfilled, 



110 PROPHECY. 

pose to contradict this objection. If all the doubtful 
passages were struck from the list, there would remain 
indubitable prophecies more than sufficient to sustain 
the argument. Besides, the loss might be countervailed 
by reckoning the several incidents which are compre- 
hended in some of the predictions, as so many distinct 
facts. 

For example, the prophecy of Christ's entrance into 
Jerusalem, No. 11, states definitely several particulars 
in the mode of his entrance. He was not to walk, or 
to be borne on the shoulders of applauding attendants, 
or to be conveyed in a vehicle of some sort, but to ride 
on the back of an animal ; and this animal was to be, 
not a camel, a horse, or a mule, but an ass : and with 
still greater particularity, the prophecy states that he 
was to ride, not on an old ass, but on an ass's colt. It 
is manifest that, though the entrance into Jerusalem is 
set down in the enumeration as a single fact, the pro- 
phecy concerning it comprehended many particulars, all 
of which must concur to render the fulfilment complete. 
We may therefore conclude that the chances against the 
exact fulfilment of all the prophecies concerning Christ 
were not over estimated in the last paragraph. 

2. The improbability that so many predictions should 
be fulfilled in one person, is greatly increased by the 
circumstance that there is an obvious appearance of in- 
congruity between the predictions. Thus, classes six 
and seven appear inconsistent with each other, and their 
concurrence in any ordinary person may be pronounced 
impossible. But in the person of Jesus they were all 
harmoniously fulfilled, because in him humanity and 
divinity were united. 

in their comprehensive and most important sense, if this event 
had not occurred. 



THE MESSIAH. Ill 

3. The force of the demonstration is further increased 
by the consideration that the predictions were delivered 
at different times, and by different persons, and were 
wholly independent of each other. They were delivered 
at different times during a period of four thousand 
years. To the first revelations, which were compara- 
tively obscure, additions were made harmonizing with 
those which preceded them, but not growing out of them. 

The Messiah was to be born of Eve, but this did not 
determine that he was to be of the seed of Abraham ; 
and when this was foretold, the prediction did not de- 
termine that he should be of the tribe of Judah, or of 
the family of David. Thus, independent additions were 
made from time to time, unfolding a scroll of prophecy 
in which converging lines appear that at length meet in 
the person of Jesus Christ. The concurrence of so 
many independent predictions proves that they origin- 
ated from one source, one divine mind, and not from 
the minds of the several prophets. The whole Hebrew 
nation, with its typical rites of religious worship, ut- 
tered a continued prediction of Christ from the time 
of Moses. 

From the first passover in Egypt to the scene on 
Calvary, when Christ, our passover, was sacrificed for 
us, the congregation of the Lord exhibited its prophetic 
handwriting of ordinances ; and when these were nailed 
to the cross, the congregation was dissolved, the purpose 
for which it had been divinely organized having been 
accomplished. Yet — 

4. By an admirable arrangement the nation of Israel 
remain witnesses of the genuineness of the prophecies 
which point out their rejected Messiah. They hold 
up to the view of the world their sacred volume, which 
contains these predictions, and thus give honorable tes- 

10* 



112 PROPHECY. 

tirnony to the prophets, while they reject their predic- 
tions. They forbid the computation of Daniel's seventy 
weeks, and the interpretation of Isaiah's fifty-third chap- 
ter ; and herein convict themselves of rejecting the 
revelations which have been committed to their keeping 
through these inspired men. 

5. The most important predictions concerning the 
Messiah are in progress of fulfilment at the present 
time. He was to be a spiritual deliverer, bruising 
the head of the serpent, 1 blessing all nations, 2 and re- 
leasing individuals from the bondage of sin. 3 These 
benefits the exalted Jesus now confers on mankind. 
The evidence is before the eyes of all in the spread of 
Christianity and the benefits which it confers on the na- 
tions ; and it is in the heart of every humble believer 
who has within him the witness and earnest of the Holy 
Spirit given by the ascended Redeemer. 

Section III. The Hebrew Nation. 

The Old Testament contains numerous prophecies 
concerning the descendants of Abraham. Some of these 
have been fulfilled, and others are in the progress of 
fulfilment. 

It was foretold that — 1. The children of Israel should 
go into Egypt and there be enslaved. 4 — 2. They should 
be delivered from this bondage at a time designated. 5 — 
3. They should be brought into Canaan and hold it as 
their possession. 6 — 4. They should become a great na- 
tion. 7 — 5. They should be carried to Babylon and be in 

1 Gen. iii. 15. 2 Gen. xxii. 18. 

3 Isaiah, lxi. 1. 4 Gen. xv. 13. 

5 Gen. xv. 14-16. 6 Gen. xvii. 8 ; xv. 16. 

7 Gen. xii. 2. 



ANCIENT CITIES. 118 

captivity seventy years. 1 — 6. They should be besieged 
and overcome by a foreign warlike people ; should suffer 
extreme famine in the siege. 2 — 7. They should be re- 
moved from their land, and scattered among the nations, 
and in their dispersion should be reduced to extreme 
suffering and degradation. 3 — 8. Though dispersed and 
afflicted, they should still be preserved a distinct people. 4 
— 9. They should be treated with contempt by the na- 
tions among whom they would be scattered. 5 — 10. Their 
sufferings would be of long continuance. 6 

These predictions have all been fulfilled, and some of 
them continue to be fulfilled at the present time, before 
the eyes of all men. The remarkable people carry with 
them everywhere in their dispersion, and preserve with 
the utmost care, the book which foretells their present 
condition, and explains it as a just judgment of God for 
their sins. The long continuance of their calamity 
indicates that God has been provoked by some grievous 
offence : and what is this offence ? Can anything be 
alleged so probable as the rejection and murder of their 
Messiah ? 

Section IV. Ancient Cities. 
Nineveh. 
Ancient history informs us — 1. That this ancient 
city (102 a), the metropolis of the Assyrian Empire, 
after being besieged two years, was inundated by the 
swollen waters of the river on which it was built, and 
its walls thrown down. 7 — 2. That the king, despairing 

1 Jer. xxv. 11. 2 Dent, xxviii. 49-57. 

3 Deut. xxviii. 57-68. 4 Levit. xxvi. 44 : Deut. xxviii. 65. 

5 Deut. xxviii. 37. 6 Deut. xxviii. 59. 

7 Nahum, i. 8. 



114 PROPHECY. 

of success, erected a funeral pile, on which he heaped 
his wealth, and with which himself, his household, and 
palace, were consumed by fire. 1 — 3. That the king had 
appointed a time of festivity, and he and his soldiers 
had abandoned themselves to drunkenness ; and the 
general of the enemy, apprised of their condition, had 
attacked the Assyrian army, destroyed a part of them, 
and driven the rest into the city. 2 — 4. That many 
talents of gold, preserved from the fire, were carried 
away to Ecbatana. 3 — 5. The overthrow of the city was 
complete and final. It has long lain in utter desola- 
tion ; and its ruins, recently examined by Layard, har- 
monize with the account of this ancient city given in the 
Bible, and at the same time prove the fulfilment of the 
Bible prophecies respecting it. 4 

If the above facts be compared with the Scriptures 
referred to, it will be seen that the overthrow of Nine- 
veh was in exact fulfilment of prophecies which had been 
delivered while the city was in its strength and glory, 
and when its utter ruin was an event which no human 
sagacity could have foreknown. 

Babylon. 

1. This ancient, powerful city (102 a) was besieged 
and taken by the Medes and Elamites or Persians. 5 — 2. 
The name of the conqueror was Cyrus. 6 — 3. Various 
nations that he had previously conquered, had contrib- 
uted to enlarge his army. 7 — 4. Finding the city strongly 

1 Nahura, iii. 15. 2 Nahuru, i. 10. 

3 Nahuin, ii. 9. 

4 Nahum, i. 8, 9, 10 ; iii. 7-19 ; Zeph. ii. 13, 15. 

5 Isaiah, xxi. 2-9: Jer. Ii. 11. 

6 Isaiah, xlvi. 28. 7 Isaiah, xiii. 4 ; Jer. Ii. 27. 



ANCIENT CITIES. L15 

fortified on every side by its immense walls, lie made 
preparations for a long siege, 1 by digging a trench en- 
tirely around it, and erecting towers. — 5. The Baby- 
lonians, though their armies had once been a terror to 
the nations, evinced great cowardice, and shut them- 
selves up within their walls. 2 — 6. An entrance was 
obtained by diverting from its channel 3 the river Eu- 
phrates, which ran through the midst of the city. — 7. 
Through the channel Cyrus led his army by night, 
selecting for the time a season of festivity, 4 in which the 
gates leading from the river into the city had been 
carelessly left open. 5 — 8. While the king Belshazzar and 
his courtiers were feasting and drinking wine out of the 
vessels which had been brought from the temple at Jeru- 
salem, the conqueror approached the royal palace ; and, 
finding the guards intoxicated, 6 entered before the king 
had knowledge of his approach. That night Belshazzar 
was slain. — 9. By the conquest of Babylon, Cyrus be- 
came master of the great riches 7 of the place, and 
reduced it from an imperial to a tributary city. Sub- 
sequently the height of the wall was reduced by Darius, 
and the gates destroyed. — 10. Xerxes afterwards rifled 
the most sacred treasures which were laid up in the 
temple of Belus, and took away their idols. 8 — 11. All 
designs to restore Babylon to its ancient greatness 
proved abortive. It gradually declined, and in the 
second century of the Christian era nothing remained 
but its walls, and under the Saracens it became a com- 



1 Isaiah, xxi. 2 ; Jer. 1. 29. 


2 Jer. li. 30. 


3 Isaiah, xliv. 27 5 Jer. 1. 38 ; li. 36. 




4 Jer. 1. 24; li. 39-57. 


5 Isaiah, xlv. 1. 


6 Jer. li. 39-57. 


7 Isaiah, xlv. 3. 



8 Isaiah, xxi. 9 ; xlvi. 1. 



116 PROPHECY. 

plete desolation. 1 — 12. Nothing of it now remains but 
mounds of ruins amidst pools of stagnant water. 2 — 13. 
But in another portion of the space once occupied by 
the city, the ground is dry and barren. 3 — 14. Wild 
beasts and venomous serpents are the only inhabitants 
of the place, and the wild Arab shuns to pitch his tent 
there. 4 — 15. The temple of Belus, 5 once higher than the 
pyramids of Egypt, is now a shapeless mound of ruins, 
as are also the palaces 6 which were once the abode of 
luxury and merriment. 7 — 16. Of the immense walls, not 
even a vestige can be found. 8 — 17. Modern travellers 
who visit the place, contemplate the desolation with 
astonishment, 9 and are overawed by its dreary solitude. 
The facts which have been enumerated above, and 
which are gathered from historical records, were the 
subjects of prophecies contained in the Bible. A refer- 
ence to these prophecies is made at the statement of the 
several facts ; and if the facts be compared with the 
passages of Scripture referred to, it will be seen that 
they have exactly fulfilled predictions that had been 
delivered by the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. Isaiah 
prophesied at least one hundred and sixty years before 
the taking of Babylon. Though Jeremiah was a century 
later, he sent 10 his prophecy to Babylon fifty-six years 
before its capture, and while Nebuchadnezzar the Great 
was on the throne, by whom Babylon was raised to the 

1 Isaiah, xiii. 19 ; xiv. 22, 23 ; Jer. 1. 13, 23, 39, 40 ; li. 13, 26, 
29, 37, 42, 43. 

2 Isaiah, xiv. 23. 3 Jer. li. 43. 

4 Isaiah, xiii. 20-22. 

5 Isaiah, xlvi. 1 ; Jer. 1. 2 ; li. 44. 

6 Isaiah, xiii. 22. 7 Isaiah, xiv. 11. 

8 Isaiah, xxv. 12 ; Jer. 1. 15; li. 44-58. 

9 Jer. 1. 13 ; li. 37. 10 Jer. li. 59, 60. 



ANCIENT CITIES. 117 

zenith of its power and splendor. There was then no 
human probability of its overthrow in little more than a 
half century, and much less of its utter desolation. It 
was much more probable, according to human foresight, 
that Jerusalem, recently taken by Nebuchadnezzar, and 
stripped of its inhabitants, should become utterly deso- 
late, than that this should be the lot of Babylon. Yet 
Jerusalem now exists, and Babylon has been in ruins many 
centuries. Who but God could have foretold this ? 

Tyre. 
1. Ancient Tyre (102 a) built on the shores of the 
Mediterranean, and distinguished in very early times 1 
for its commerce, opulence, and luxury, 2 was, after a 
siege of thirteen years, destroyed by the Chaldeans 
under Nebuchadnezzar. — 2. The dispersed inhabitants 
passed over the sea to islands, 3 and distant countries, 
some of them to Tartessus in Spain, which is the 
Tarshish 4 of the prophets. — 3. After seventy years Tyre 
was rebuilt, 5 not on the old site, but on a neighboring 
island. — 4. Though defended by the sea, and by strong 
walls, it was besieged, taken, and set on fire by Alexan- 
der the Great. 6 The conqueror sold thirty thousand of 
the inhabitants for slaves. 7 — 5. In order to approach it, 
he made a causeway through the sea to the island, with 
the stones and rubbish 8 of the old city. — 6. In modern 
times this once magnificent city is described by travel- 
lers as a desolation, a barren rock, on which a few 

1 Isaiah, xxiii. 7. 

2 Isaiah, xxiii. 3, 8 ; Ezek. xxvii. 3-34. 

3 Isaiah, xxiii. 12 5 Ezek. xxvi. 18. 

4 Isaiah, xxiii. 6. B Isaiah, xxiii. 15, 17. 

6 Ezek. xxvii. 32 ; xxviii. 18 ; Zech. ix. 3, 4. 

7 Joel, iii. 6-8. 8 Ezek. xxvi. 12. 



118 PROPHECY. 

fishermen have their huts, and where they dry their 
nets. 1 

If the above facts be compared with the passages of 
Scripture referred to, it will be seen that they are the 
exact fulfilments of prophecy. The predictions of Isaiah 
concerning Tyre were delivered one hundred and twenty- 
five years before its first overthrow by Nebuchadnezzar. 
It was not foretold, as in the case of Nineveh and 
Babylon, that Tyre should become an utter desolation. 
Though of the old city no remains are now to be found, 
a remnant of insular Tyre may be said still to exist in 
the few fishermen's huts that now occupy the place, and 
give proof of the exactness with which the prophecy of 
the Bible has been fulfilled. Who but God could have 
foreknown that such cities as Nineveh, Babylon, and 
Tyre would be destroyed ; and who but God could have 
foretold so many centuries ago the precise condition of 
their ruins at the present time ? 

Section V. Tribes and Kingdoms. 

The patriarch Noah prophetically described the con- 
dition of his posterity, as propagated from his three 
sons. " God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell 
in the tents of Shem, and Canaan 2 shall be his servant." 

1 Ezek. xxvi. 3-5, 14, 21. 

2 The curse, so far as it is expressed in the record, was limited 
to the person of Canaan ; but it was undoubtedly understood by 
Moses to extend to his descendants, and it was so recorded as to 
encourage the children of Israel in expelling the Canaanites 
from the promised land. Whether more was said by Noah than 
Moses has recorded, we have no means of knowing : but the 
crime which drew forth the curse was committed by Ham ; and 
there is no reason apparent why the curse should not equally 
affect all his children. Shem and Japheth were blessed, but 



TRIBES AND KINGDOMS. 119 

The pre-eminence of the European race, descendants of 
Japheth (103) is here foretold : and the servile condi- 
tion which has been the lot of Ham's descendants, from 
the conquest of Canaan by Joshua down to the modern 
prevalence of African slavery. 

Noah's prophecy is the more remarkable, because, 
though its fulfilment is clearly seen in an extended view 
of history, yet for several centuries after it was uttered, 
and down to the time when it was recorded by Moses, 
the progress of events was in a contrary direction. If 
the curse denounced had fallen at once on Ham's de- 
scendants, it might now be alleged that Moses fabricated 
the prediction to accord with historical events of which 
he had knowledge. But the same author who recorded 
the prediction has transmitted with it such a history as 
to human view rendered the fulfilment of the prediction 
wholly improbable. The first founder of a great empire 
was Nimrod, a descendent of Ham. 1 Egypt, the land 
of Ham, witnessed cruel bondage, not endured by the 
sons of Ham, but inflicted by them on the most favored 
children of Shem. Egypt was not then the "basest" 
of kingdoms ; but it was foremost among the nations 
for science, arts, and civilization ; and furnished the 
school in which Moses himself acquired the learning for 
which he was distinguished. Even the descendants of 
Canaan, against whom the curse was specially recorded, 
continued, as long as Moses lived, to enjoy prosperity 
in the land of Canaan. Here Sidon and Tyre began 

Ham was not: and the mere withholding of a blessing was, in 
the circumstances, a virtual curse on the offender, even if none 
was expressed ; and this silent curse at least was the inheritance 
of all his posterity, while the posterity of his brothers inherited 
their blessings. 
1 Gen. x. 8, 10. 
11 



120 PROPHECY. 

the commerce of the world. Hence went out to Africa 
the colony which founded Carthage, the great rival of 
Rome ; and hence went Cadmus, who gave letters to the 
Greeks. From such a history of Ham's progeny it was 
impossible for human sagacity to draw the prediction 
uttered by Noah ; and the fulfilment of the prediction 
down to our times, demonstrates that it did not proceed 
from the wisdom of the historian who recorded it, or of 
the patriarch who delivered it. 

The Bible foretold that Amalek, 1 Edom, 2 and Moab 3 
should lose their distinct existence ; but predicted that 
the posterity of Ishmael (104) should continue, distin- 
guished from other nations, and in perpetual hostility. 4 
The history and present condition of the Arabs corre- 
spond to this ancient prediction. 

Egypt was once powerful, and renowned for its learn- 
ing ; and it now contains the oldest monuments of art 
in the world. While it was still in its greatness, a pro- 
phecy of its degradation 5 was uttered, not of its over- 
throw, as in the case of the Assyrian and Babylonian 
powers. For ages this prophecy has been fulfilled. All 
attempts to raise it to greatness have failed, including 
one of modern times by the powerful Napoleon. 

The four great empires of the world, the Babylonian, 
the Medo-Persian, the Macedonian, and the Roman, 
were foretold by Daniel with many particulars respect- 
ing each. 6 The fulfilment of the prediction is exact, 
and extends down to the present time. The division of 
the Roman empire (105) into ten kingdoms was pre- 

1 Ex. xvii. 14. 

2 Jer. xlix. 10; Ezek. xxv. 12, 14; Obad. 10-18. 

3 Numbers, xxiv. 17 ; Isaiah, xvi. 14 ; Amos, ii. 2. 

4 Gen. xvi. 12. 5 Ezekiel, xxix. 15. 
6 Dan. ii. 37-40 ; vii. 1,7, 17. 



THE PAPACY. 121 

dieted, and the rise of a power different from all the 
rest. 1 

Section VI. The Papacy. 

The prophecy of Daniel concerning the Little Horn 2 
agrees with that of Paul 3 concerning the Man of Sin, 
and the Falling Away ; and with that of John concern- 
ing the Beast with seven heads and ten horns. All 
these prophecies relate to the same thing, and find their 
fulfilment in the Roman Catholic Church. The pro- 
phecy of John, which is far the most minute, will be 
considered in Section 8. At present we shall merely 
enumerate some characteristics of the Papal or Roman 
Catholic Church ; and refer to passages of Scripture in 
which these characteristics are foretold. 

1. Popery is not, like Mahometanism, a new and 
distinct religion ; but is a corruption of Christianity, a 
falling away. 4 The little horn has "eyes," 5 which 
may signify that it is the Seer of the church, that is, its 
overseer or Bishop. — 2. In this apostate church worship 
has been rendered to demons, or angels and departed 
Saints. 6 — 3. It has enjoined celibacy on the clergy, and 
encouraged it in monks and nuns ; and has forbidden 
the use of flesh at prescribed fasts as a mortal sin. 7 — 4. 
The pope has made himself God, in affecting divine 
titles, attributes, and honors ; in assuming power to 
dispense with divine commands ; in placing his foot on 
the altar and table of the law at his inauguration, and 

1 Dan. ii. 41-43 ; vii. 19-26. 

2 Dan. vii. 8, &c. 3 2 Thes. ii. 3. 
4 2 Thes. Ii. 3; 1 Tim. iv. 1. 5 Dan. vii. 8. 

6 1 Tim. iv. 1, u doctrines [of devils] concerning demons;" 
Dan. xi. 38; 

7 Dan. xi. 37 ; 1 Tim. iv. 3. 



122 PROPHECY. 

in this posture receiving the adoration of his cardinals. 1 
— 5. The pope has claimed supremacy over all other 
bishops, and over the kings of the earth. 2 — 6. The 
papal church has secured great wealth under the control 
of its clergy. 3 — 7. It has made much use of purple and 
scarlet, and introduced costly decorations into its wor- 
ship. 4 — 8. It has extended its power by craft and pious 
frauds. 5 — 9. Also by pretended revelations and mira- 
cles. 6 — 10. It has required implicit faith and obedience, 
and deprived of civil rights those who would not con- 
form to its requirements. 7 — 11. The Roman pontiffs 
have caused the shedding of much Christian blood, and 
secured their supremacy by inquisitions and tortures. 8 — 
12. The ungodly and covetous priesthood of the papal 
church have introduced false doctrines and unautho- 
rized modes of worship ; and have made merchandise of 
men's souls by the sale of indulgences, absolutions, and 
releases from purgatory. 9 

Section VII. Christ's Predictions. 

Besides the general judgment and other events which 
are still future, our Saviour foretold (106 a) 

I. His own death, with attendant circumstances, which 
may be enumerated as follows : — 1. He was betrayed by 
one of the twelve apostles. 10 — 2. All the others forsook 

1 Dan. vii. 25 ; xi. 36 ; 2 Thes. ii. 3, 4. 

2 Dan. vii. 20 ; Rev. xiii. 7 ; xvii. 2, 13. 

3 Dan. xi. 39. * Rev. xvii. 4. 

5 Dan. vii. 8 ; 1 Tim. iv. 2 ; Rev. xiii. 11-14. 

6 2 Thes. ii. 9, 10 ; Rev. xiii. 13, 14. 

7 Rev. xiii. 16, 17. 

8 Dan. vii. 21-25 5 Rev. xvii. 6 ; xviii. 24. 

9 2 Pet. ii. 1 5 1 Jude 4, &c. ; 2 Tim. iii. 1. 

10 Matt. xxvi. 21 ; Mark, xiv. 18 ; John, xiii. 21. 



Christ's predictions. 123 

him, and fled. 1 — 3. Peter denied him thrice. 2 — 4. He 
was not thrown from a precipice, or stoned to death by 
a Jewish mob, but was delivered to the Gentiles to be 
mocked, scourged, spit upon, and killed. 3 — 5. He was 
crucified. 4 

II. His resurrection on the third day, 5 and his ap- 
pearance to his disciples in Galilee. 6 

III. The success of his apostles as fishers of men ; 7 
their power to speak with tongues and work miracles ; 8 
their publication of the gospel to the uttermost parts 
of the earth ; 9 the persecutions and sufferings which 
they endured ; 10 the manner of Peter's death ; u the 
[intimated] continuance of John until after the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem. 12 

IV. The rejection of the Jews and the call of the 
Gentiles ; 13 the great increase of his church ; 14 and its 
preservation and perpetuity, though powerfully as- 
sailed. 15 

V. The destruction of Jerusalem. The exact fulfil- 
ment of the prophecy relating to this event, may be 
seen in the following historical facts (106 b) — 1. Jeru- 
salem was destroyed by a Roman army, in which an 

1 Matt. xxvi. 31 ; Mark, xiv. 27. 

2 Matt. xxvi. 34 ; Mark, xiv. 30, 72. 

3 Matt. xx. 19 ; Mark, x. 33, 34 ; Luke, xviii. 32. 

4 Matt. xx. 19 ; xxvi. 2; Luke, xxiv. 7. 

5 Matt. xx. 19; Mark, x. 34; Luke, xxiv. 7; John, ii. 19. 

6 Matt, xxviii. 10. 

7 Matt. iv. 19 ; Mark, i. 17. 8 Mark, xvi. 17, 18. 
9 Matt. xxiv. 14 ; Mark, xiii. 10. 

10 Matt. xxiv. 9 ; Mark, xiii. 9 ; Luke, xxi. 12. 

11 John, xxi. 18, 19. 

12 John, xxi. 22, 23. 13 Matt. xxi. 43. 

14 Matt. xiii. 31, 32; Mark, iv. 31, 32; Luke, xiii. 19. 

15 Matt. xvi. 18. 

11* 



124 PROPHECY. 

eagle, the ensign used by the Romans, was borne at tho 
head of each legion. 1 — 2. It was destroyed A. D. 70, 
within less than forty years after the crucifixion of 
Christ, and while many who had heard him preach were 
still living. 2 — 3. In this short period of forty years the 
gospel was preached throughout the known world, 
giving " witness" before all mankind that the Messiah 
had come, and explaining the awful calamity which fell 
on the Jewish people as the vengeance of their rejected 
King. 3 — 4. The gospel gained its success in opposition 
to fierce persecution, 4 and notwithstanding the defec- 
tion of many who, for a time, numbered themselves 
among its followers. 5 — 5. The latter part of this inter- 
vening period of forty years was marked with the occur- 
rence of extraordinary calamities, among which history 
has recorded famines in Palestine 6 and Italy ; pesti- 
lences at Babylon, Rome, and other parts of the Roman 
empire; and earthquakes at Crete, Smyrna, Miletus, 
Chios, Samos, Rome, Laodicea, Campania, and Judea. 
Moreover, the Jews, who were scattered over nearly 
every country of the Roman empire, attempted in many 
places to break the yoke of Roman authority, and 
hence arose bloody civil wars, 7 which, disastrous as they 
were to the Jews, were only the first drops of a deso- 
lating tempest. 8 — 6. Fearful prodigies (107), including 
extraordinary appearances in the heavens, preceded the 

1 Matt. xxiv. 28 j Luke, xvii. 37. 

2 Matt, xxiii. 36 5 xxiv. 34 ; Mark, xiii. 30 ; Luke, xxi. 32. 

3 Matt. xxiv. 14-, Mark, xiii.10. 
* Luke, xxi. 12, 16, 17. 

5 Matt. xxiv. 10-12 ; Mark, xiii. 12, 13. 

6 Acts, xi. 28. 

7 Matt. xxiv. 6. 

8 Matt. xxiv. 7 ; Mark, xiii. 7 ; Luke, xxi. 9. 



CHRIST'S PREDICTIONS. 125 

destruction of Jerusalem. 1 — 7. The Jews were encou- 
raged in their attempt to free themselves from Roman 
power by the vain hope that their Messiah would come 
for their deliverance; and hence numerous impostors, 
who promised them deliverance, deceived multitudes, 
and caused their ruin. 2 — 8. The appearance at the holy 
city of the Roman ensign, which being an object of 
idolatrous worship, was an "abomination" to the Jews, 
became to the Christians a signal for flight, that they 
might escape the impending calamities ; and Providence 
gave opportunity by a temporary withdrawal of the 
army after its first approach. 3 — 9. While the Jews from 
all parts of the world were assembled in Jerusalem at 
the feast of the passover, the Roman army began a 
siege of the city. 4 — 10. During the progress of the 
siege, the Jews suffered unprecedented misery, from the 
assaults of the Romans, from internal dissensions, and 
from famine. It has been computed that eleven hun- 
dred thousand were slain, besides multitudes who died 
of hunger, or committed suicide; and multitudes of 
captives were sold into slavery. 5 Josephus says, in 
words which have a remarkable agreement with Christ's 
prophecy, " Never did any city suffer so great calami- 
ties." 6 — 11. Ultimately the city and temple were burned, 
their walls completely demolished, and the very founda- 
tions dug up. 7 — 12. From that time Jerusalem has been 
under the power of Grentile rulers, and in a compara- 
tively abject condition ; and all attempts to restore it 



1 Luke, xxi. 11. 

2 Matt, xxiv. 23-26 : Mark, xiii. 3-6, 21, 23 ; Luke, xxi. 

3 Matt. xxiv. 15, 16; Mark, xiii. 14; Luke, xxi. 20. 

4 Luke, xix. 43. 5 Luke, xxi. 24. 

6 Matt. xxiv. 21 ; Mark, xiii. 19 ; Luke, xxi. 22, 23. 

7 Matt. xxiv. 2: Mark, xiii. 2: Luke, xix. 44. 



126 PROPHECY. 

to its former state have proved abortive. But though 
eighteen centuries of deferred hope have passed, the 
Jews still expect its restoration, and Christians believe 
that the time of its restoration will be after the heathen 
nations have been converted to Christianity. 1 

This remarkable prediction has been recorded by each 
of the three evangelists who wrote before the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem ; namely, Matthew, Mark and Luke. 
That the three Gospels which bear these names, were 
written before the destruction of Jerusalem, is estab- 
lished by the concurrent testimony of all Christian 
antiquity ; and, with respect to two of them, by conclu- 
sive internal proof. In pre-indicating the signal by 
which the Christians were to know when they might 
escape out of the city, it is said, " Whoso readeth let 
him understand." 2 This parenthetical clause is man- 
ifestly, not a part of Christ's address to his disciples, 
for he would have said, " Whoso hearetli let him under- 
stand," but it is introduced by the evangelists, Matthew 
and Mark, as admonitions to those who should read their 
Gospels, to notice the signal indicated. This previous 
warning shows that the books were written before the 
time referred to. We know therefore that the predic- 
tion was delivered, recorded, and circulated before the 
beginning of the calamities predicted. When Jesus 
delivered this prophecy, the Jews were at peace, and 
there was no probability, to human view, that such afflic- 
tion would befall them. It was improbable that their 
temple should be so soon destroyed, and its massy stones 
removed ; and it was especially improbable that the 
Romans should destroy this magnificent edifice, inas- 
much as they were accustomed to spare works of art in 

1 Luke, xxi. 24. 2 Matt. xxiv. 15: Mark, xiii. 14. 



CHRIST'S PREDICTIONS. 127 

conquered nations. If human sagacity could have con- 
jectured that the Romans would lay Jerusalem desolate, 
it was beyond its power to foretell whether the desola- 
tion would be temporary, like that which occurred at the 
Babylonish captivity, or permanent, like that which has 
befallen Nineveh, Babylon, and Tyre. Nothing less 
than divine prescience could have foretold that the city 
would continue to exist, though oppressed and trodden 
under foot by a succession of Gentile masters ; and 
that for a long period it would not come again into the 
possession of Israel. 

Christ's predictions were like his miracles, designed 
to give proof of his divine mission and Messiahship. 1 
This proof is furnished most abundantly and conclu- 
sively by his remarkable prophecy concerning the de- 
struction of Jerusalem ; and is displayed before the 
eyes of all men at the present time, in the condition 
both of the holy city, and of the Hebrew nation, who, 
with long deferred hope, still look forward to the re- 
possession of their land. But the calamities which have 
fallen on the Jews, furnish proof of the mission and 
Messiahship of Jesus, beyond that which the mere ful- 
filment of prophecy can give. The destruction of Je- 
rusalem proves not only the prescience which foretold 
it, but also the divine power and justice which inflicted 
the dreadful calamity on the guilty nation, for rejecting 
and crucifying their Messiah. The catastrophe was 
deferred until the gospel had been preached among all 
nations, and invitation thereby given to the world to 
behold the issue of the conflict between the nation and 
their rejected king: and succeeding generations down 
to the present time, are called on to contemplate the 

1 John, xiii. 19. 

i 



128 PROPHECY. 

event and its consequences in the same light. Jerusa- 
lem and the Jews are now witnesses to the world, not 
only that Jesus was a prophet, but also that he ascended 
the throne as king, and took vengeance on those who 
refused his dominion, and that he still reigns with a 
power which rebellious Israel vainly opposes. 

Section VIII. Revelation of John. 

The Revelation of John, written near the close of the 
first century, professes to be a prediction of things 
which were shortly to come to pass. 1 Some of the pre- 
dicted events manifestly belong to a time which is even 
now future ; but the beginning of the series followed 
closely after the writing of the book. Amidst the 
predictions much religious instruction is interspersed, 
showing that the book, like all other parts of the 
Scriptures, was designed to be " profitable, that the 
man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto 
all good works." It was not given to gratify vain 
curiosity ; and much of its prophecy is expressed in 
dark symbolical language, which nothing but the fulfil- 
ment can interpret. But amidst the obscurity some 
things are sufficiently clear to serve for strengthening 
the faith and hope of Christians : and as the predictions 
become interpreted by the occurrence of the events 
foretold, the divine origin of the book is demonstrated, 
and the seal of God is seen affixed to the whole volume, 
of which this book is the last and completing part. 

It is our present purpose to notice very briefly the 
principal predictions in the book of Revelation, so far 
as they have been already fulfilled. We shall be aided 
in our examination of them by the notes of Dr. Barnes, 



1 Ch. i. 1. 



REVELATION OF JOHN. 129 

who, after an original and independent investigation, 
arrived at an interpretation of which he says, " It sur- 
prises me, and, under this view of the matter, may- 
occasion some surprise to my readers, to find how nearly 
the views coincide with those taken by the great body 
of Protestant interpreters. And perhaps this fact may 
be regarded as furnishing some evidence that, after all 
the obscurity attending it, there is a natural and obvious 
interpretation of which the book is susceptible." But 
though the interpretation of Dr. Barnes agrees sub- 
stantially with that which has been usually given by 
Protestant divines, his notes are specially valuable 
because he confirms the interpretation by reference to 
the infidel historian Gibbon. 1 

1 Concerning Mr. Gibbon, Dr. Barnes says: "To my own sur- 
prise, I found, chiefly in Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman 
Empire, a series of events recorded such as seemed to me to 
correspond to a great extent with the series of symbols found in 
the Apocalypse. The symbols were such as it might be supposed 
would be used on the supposition that they were intended to 
refer to those events, and the language of Mr. Gibbon was often 
such as he would have used on the supposition that he had do- 
signed to prepare a commentary on the symbols employed by 
John. It was such, in fact, that if it had been found in a Chris- 
tian writer, professedly writing a commentary on the book of 
Revelation, it would have been regarded by infidels as a designed 
attempt to force history to utter a language that should conform 
to a predetermined theory in expounding a book full of symbols. 
So remarkable have these coincidences appeared to me in the 
course of this exposition, that it has almost seemed as if he had 
designed to write a commentary on some portions of this book, 
and I have found it difficult to doubt that that distinguished his- 
torian was raised up by an overruling Providence to make a 
record of those events which would ever afterwards be regarded 
as an impartial and unprejudiced statement of the evidence of 
the fulfilment of prophecy. The historian of the 'Decline and 



130 PROPHECY. 



Changes in the Roman Empike. 

The first prophecy which claims our attention de- 
scribes by the most appropriate symbols the condition 
of the Roman empire, in the principal changes which it 
passed through after the death of Domitian, the last of 
the twelve Cassars. John was banished to the isle of 
Patmos under the reign of Domitian, and wrote the 
Revelation just before the death of that cruel tyrant. 
Hence the predicted series of events commenced almost 
immediately after the writing of the book. 

The symbols used in the prophecy are represented as 
portrayed on a scroll, sealed with seven seals, and were 
gradually and successively rendered visible by the break- 
ing of the seals and the unfolding of the scroll. The 
events which these symbols denoted are the following : — 
1. A period of great prosperity (108) in which the 

Fall of the' Roman Empire' had no belief in the divine origin 
of Christianity, but he brought to the performance of his work 
learning and talent such as few Christian scholars have pos- 
sessed. He is always patient in his investigations ; learned and 
scholar-like in his references ; comprehensive in his groupings, 
and sufficiently minute in his details ; unbiassed in his state- 
ments of facts, and usually cool and candid in his estimates of 
the causes of the events which he records ; and, excepting his 
philosophical speculations, and his sneers at everything, he has 
probably written the most candid and impartial history of the 
times that succeeded the introduction of Christianity that the 
world possesses, and even after all that has been written since his 
time, his work contains the best ecclesiastical history that is to 
be found. Whatever use of it can be made in explaining and 
confirming the prophecies, will be regarded by the world as im- 
partial and fair ; for it was a result which he least of all con- 
templated, that he would ever be regarded as an expounder of 
the prophecies in the Bible, or be referred to as vindicating their 
truth." 



REVELATION OF JOHN. 131 

empire was enlarged by conquest to the greatest extent 
that it ever attained, and enjoyed a sort of perpetual 
triumph, being wisely and ably ruled by the good em- 
perors, Nerva, Trajan, Adrian, and the Ante-nines ; A. d. 
96 to 180. l — 2. A time in which prosperity and inter- 
nal peace were banished from the empire, and civil wars 
prevailed with murders and cruel slaughters (109). 
This change began with the accession of Commodus, 3 
A. D. 180. — 3. A time of general calamity (110) in 
which wheat and barley were sold by exact weight, at 
several times their usual price ; and in which the go- 
vernment rigidly and oppressively exacted tribute on 
these necessaries of life ; and by imperial edicts with 
severe penalties forbade the doing of anything that 
would lessen the income from wine and oil as sources 
of revenue. 3 The severe exactions commenced under 
Caracalla, who reigned from A. D. 211-217, and, after 
some abatement under Alexander Severus, were again 
revived, and under Diocletian and Galerius were most 
oppressive and ruinous. — 4. A time of great mortality 
from wars, pestilence, famine, and wild beasts (111), 
A. D. 249, and onward. 4 — 5. The persecution under 

1 Rev. vi. 2. 2 Rev. vi. 4. 

3 Rev. vi. 5, 6. 

4 Rev. vi. 8. Respecting events 1, 2, 3 and 4, it may be observed 
that the first only has a distinct period. It was predicted that 2 
would " take peace from the earth," or, as it should be rendered, 
the peace : that is, it would terminate the peace and prosperity 
which prevailed during the first period. The calamitous events 
2, 3, and 4 occurred as to their beginning in the order designated ; 
but they did not pass away to give place to the next in succes- 
sion. Thus the blood}' civil wars of No. 2 continued during the 
oppressive exactions of No. 3, and the mortality of No. 4. Be- 
tween the years 250 and 300 no less than thirty tyrants usurped 
the throne, and were proclaimed in different parts of the empire ; 

12 



132 PROPHECY. 

Diocletian- (112) the tenth, last, and severest that the 
Christians suffered from pagan Rome. The martyrs are 
encouraged with the promise of divine favor, and of an 
end to their persecutions ; x A. d. 302-313. — 6. A time 
of general commotions (113) ; of political revolutions 
in which civil rulers would be stripped of their glory, 
and fall from their high places of power ; 2 and also a 
time of great consternation from a dread of divine judg- 
ment. 3 The empire passed from heathen to Christian 
hands under Constantine the Great, A. D. 312. Northern 
hordes, whose invasions of Italy filled the people with 
consternation, hovered about the borders of the empire ; 
but were held back for a time, like a rising wind or 
tempest held in suspense. 4 The suspension of this 
dreaded judgment was ordered by Providence for a 
purpose connected with the interests of the church. 5 
The divine judgment by ravaging invasions, literal 
earthquakes, and wars, produced alarm and terror 
as if the world were coming to an end. 6 Though de- 
layed, they may be regarded as vengeance inflicted for 
the persecution of Christians 7 — "the wrath of the 
Lamb:" 8 and were probably so regarded by many on 
whom these calamities fell with crushing weight. Gale- 
rius, who instigated the Diocletian persecution, was 
driven to issue the edict which put an end to that last 

they were all defeated, and, with but two or three exceptions, 
slain. In like manner the oppressive exactions and consequent 
distress which belonged to No. 3, continued after the introduc- 
tion of No. 4, and were never greater and more ruinous to the 
empire than under Diocletian and Galerius in the time of No. 5. 

1 Rev. vi. 9-11. 2 Rev. vi. 12, 13. 

3 Rev. vi. 14-17. 4 Rev. vii. 1, 2. 

5 Rev. vii. 3. 6 Rev. vi. 14. 

7 Rev. vi. 10. * Rev. vi. 16. 



REVELATION OF JOHN. 138 

persecution by an apprehension that a disease with 
which he was visited was a judgment inflicted on him 
by the God of the Christians. — 7. The catastrophe of 
this series, or the fall of the judgments which had been 
suspended during the time of No. 6. As these judg- 
ments fell in a succession of calamitous events, they are 
represented as forming a new series into which No. 7 is 
subdivided. 

The changes which we have considered make the out- 
line of Roman history from the time of Domitian to the 
year 400. This history is given with exactness in ex- 
pressive symbols ; and it cannot be that human sagacity 
made the prophetic record. 

Downfall of the Empire. 

Each event of the second series is symbolically intro- 
duced by the blowing of a trumpet. They are in order 
as follows : — 1. The invasion of the Goths (114) de- 
solating the country with fire and sword ; A. D. 410. 1 
— 2. The depredations of the Vandals (115). This 
tribe passed by numerous migrations from the shores 
of the Baltic to the northern coast of Africa, where they 
established themselves as a formidable maritime power. 
With strength and impetuosity not unaptly represented 
by the symbol of a volcanic mountain thrown into the 
sea, they ravaged the Mediterranean, 2 and contributed 
much toward the downfall of the Roman empire ; A. D. 
428-468. 3 — 3. The invasion by Attila, king of the 
Huns (116). This chieftain resembled a meteor in bril- 

1 Rev. viii. 7. 

2 As if Mount Atlas, from which their ships were built, had 
come down on fire into the sea. 

3 Rev. viii. 8, 9. 



134 PROPHECY. 

liance, and in the superstitious dread with which he was 
regarded. He received the title " The Scourge of God." 
His ravages fell chiefly on those parts of Italy in which 
the rivers have their source, and were in their effects a 
" bitter" calamity. The blow inflicted on the empire, 
is to be attributed to the chieftain himself, symbolized 
as a star, rather than to his people, 1 A. D. 447. — 4. The 
subjection of Italy to barbarian rule under Odoacer, 
king of the Heruli (117). This affected the supreme 
power, symbolized by the sun, 2 and is regarded as the 
consummated downfall of the Western Empire. Yet the 
light was not wholly extinguished, but only " a third 
part" of it, some parts of the old constitution were 
retained in the West, and the Eastern Empire still 
remained. 

Here a pause occurs in the blowing of the trumpets, 
distinguishing the first four from the last three. The 
first four are grouped together as of like kind : and so 
the four events to which they refer are grouped together 
in history, as the blows which effected the downfall of 
the Western Empire. The occurrence of these events 
at the proper place in chronology ; their precise agree- 
ment as to number with the number of the symbols em- 
ployed to represent them ; and the appropriateness of 
the symbols ; may suffice to assure us that we have given 
the right interpretation of the prophecy, and that the 
prophecy proceeded from Divine foreknowledge. — 5. 
The rise, spread, and tormenting power of the Saracens 
(118). Their leader was Mahomet, a chieftain of ex- 
traordinary genius, who claimed to be the prophet of 
God. He is symbolized as a star falling from heaven 
to earth. He obtained followers by proselyting them 



Rev. viii. 10, 11. 2 Rev. viii. 12. 



REVELATION OF JOHN. 135 

to his false doctrine ; and hence the host who went forth 
under his authority to afflict the world, originated, ac- 
cording to^ the symbolical representation, in a sort of 
spontaneous generation out of smoke which issued from 
the nether world. They were numerous and destructive 
as the locusts which sometimes desolate eastern nations. 
But they differed from the Goths, and most other war- 
riors who had preceded them, as scourges of mankind, 
in that they were prohibited from destroying the pro- 
ductions of the earth, and committing indiscriminate 
slaughter. They made war on idolaters, and persons 
who refused to receive their religion, and submit to their 
authority. It was their policy, not to kill men, but to 
subdue them and exact tribute from them, and thus, to 
"hurt" and "torment" them. This they did for 150 
years (five prophetical months). After this they changed 
their policy, and cultivated learning and peaceful arts. 
In the prophetic picture of these warriors, some striking 
peculiarities in their external appearance seem to be 
marked. They wore yellow turbans, and iron cuirasses ; 
and with the bearded face of man, had the long hair of 
woman. 1 — 6. The overthrow of the Eastern Empire 
(119). The Turks under Togrul their chief took 
Bagdad, A. D. 1055, and soon began to extend their 
conquests west of the Euphrates. Though Providence 
had prepared this powerful horde to effect the overthrow 
of the Eastern Empire, various causes combined to pro- 
duce a delay of the catastrophe until A. D. 1453. Dr. 
Barnes computes that this interval of delay agrees well 
with the prophetic time mentioned by John, " an hour, a 
day, a month, and a year." In their progress westward 
they may be contemplated as emerging from the waters of 

1 Rev. ix. 1-11. 
12* 



136 PROPHEC Y. 

the river, arid accordingly the four bands into which 
they were divided, are symbolically represented as four 
angels loosed from their confinement in the river, and 
going forth, after the restraints have been removed, to 
accomplish the service to which they had been appointed. 
In the prophetic vision the Turkish army by which Con- 
stantinople was taken, is brought to view ; as containing 
myriads of horsemen, and dealing destruction from their 
ranks as if from the mouths of their horses, by fire-arms 
and gunpowder, then for the first time used in war. 
The symbols employed are not adapted to describe any 
army that had ever before been in battle. Some striking 
pecularities in the external appearance of the host seem 
to be marked, in the colors attributed to their military 
dress, namely, scarlet, blue, and yellow; and in the 
probable reference to the banner under which they 
fought, which consisted of horses' tails, acknowledged 
emblems of the authority by which the army was com- 
manded. 1 

Prominent in the history of the times are the two 
events which we have referred to the blowing of the 
fifth and sixth trumpets ; and their agreement with the 
prediction is so exact that the prophecy must have pro- 
ceeded from divine foreknowledge. 

The Reformation. 

Six trumpets have sounded, and six judgments have 
fallen on the Roman empire involving it in ruins ; but 
the woes suffered by men have not turned them away 
from their sins. 2 A divine interposition of another 
kind is needed, and this is graciously granted in the 
Reformation, which commenced sixty-four years after 

1 Rev. ix. 13-20. 2 Rev. ix. 20, 21. 



REVELATION OF JOHN. 187 

the taking of Constantinople. This event is symbolized 
in the prophecy by the descent of an angel from heaven, 
not blowing warlike trumpets, nor pouring out vials of 
wrath, but having a rainbow on his head, the token of 
peace and mercy. 1 The first movements in the Refor- 
mation roused public attention, and drew forth thunder- 
ing anathemas from the city of the seven hills : but the 
people of God were instructed not to heed them, and 
especially not to regard them as utterances of divine 
authority. 2 With a solemn oath the angel is repre- 
sented as announcing that the time was fully come, for 
a divine work which would be finished when the seventh 
angel should sound. 3 

Martin Luther, by a providence of God, which was 
to him like the visit of a beneficent angel, found in his 
monastery a Bible, which became the means of his con- 
version, and the cause of the Reformation. From that 
time this book has been an " open" volume, and the know- 
ledge of it has been diffusing inestimable blessings among 
the nations of the earth. When we observe that the gift 
which the angel in the symbolic prophecy brought in 
his hand from heaven was an open book, 4 we need not 
be at a loss to understand what that book was. The 
holy volume was read by the reformers with eagerness 
and pleasure, and was as honey to the taste ; but the 
consequences were " bitter." 5 The free use of the Bible 
restored the preaching of divine truth which had been 
intermitted during long ages of darkness. 6 The in- 
crease of religious knowledge at the time of the Re- 
formation caused careful inquiry respecting the true 

1 Rev. x. 1. 2 Rev. x. 3, 4 

3 Rev. x. 5, 6. 4 Rev. x. 2. 

5 Rev. x. 9. 6 Rev. x. 11. 



138 PROPHECY. 

church, the doctrines of propitiatory sacrifice, including 
that of justification, and the distinguishing character of 
accepted worshippers. 1 The inquiry disclosed the fact 
that what had long been regarded as the Holy Catholic 
Church was merely the outer court, trodden under foot 
by those who were not the true Israel of God. 2 The 
time during which this desecration of the holy place 
should continue is stated to be forty-two prophetic 
months, or 1260 years. During this period of papal 
ascendancy, it was foretold that God would have a 
small but competent number of witnesses who would 
stand up for the truth, and denounce the judgments of 
God against the crimes of men; 3 and that the papal 
power would make war against them at a time when 
they had fully, though not finally, borne their testimony 
in circumstances of severe trial; 4 and that the perse- 
cuting power would succeed in effectually silencing their 
testimony for the space of three and one-half prophetic 
days. 5 The crusade against the Waldenses fulfilled this 
prediction ; and on May 5th, 1514, it was proclaimed 
in the Lateran Council that heresy had been completely 
exterminated. This triumph of the papacy lasted three 
and one-half years, until Luther posted up his theses at 
Wittemberg on October 31st, 1517. From that time 
the testimony of the witnesses was renewed, and became 
triumphant; 6 and a commotion among the nations sub- 
ject to the papacy followed, with a falling away of part 
from the papal dominion. 7 This interesting portion of 
Revelation exhibits, in a beautiful picture, which must 

1 Rev. xi. 1. 2 Rev. xi. 2. 

3 Rev. xi. 3-6. 4 Rev. xi. 7. 

5 Rev. xi. 8, 9. 6 Rev. xi. 11, 12. 
7 Rev. xi. 13. 



REVELATION OF JOHN. 139 

have been drawn by divine prescience, the principal facts 
connected with the Reformation. 

The Reformation was, in its design and effect, inti- 
mately connected with the final establishment of God's 
kingdom on the earth, and was therefore the beginning 
of that gracious work which is yet to be completed. 
The first four trumpets brought the Western Empire to 
a close ; and the fifth and sixth in like manner termi- 
nated the Eastern Empire. But while the Eastern Em- 
pire was coming to its end, a new power which has 
continued to the present century arose in the West, and 
prolonged the duration of the Roman Empire under a 
new form. This new power, like the forms of empire 
which preceded it, must pass away before all has been 
accomplished that is to follow the sounding of the 
seventh trumpet, which will bring the kingdoms of the 
world into complete subjection to God and his Christ. 
This consummation will fulfil all that is predicted in the 
symbolical representations which have thus far been 
considered. The prophecy now turns back to take a 
more particular view of the papal power. 

The Papal Power. 

What follows under this head may be considered a 
continuation of Section VI. 

Preparatory to a representation of the Papal Power, 
the church is brought to view as about to have increase 
which would rule all nations by establishing in the earth 
a strong and durable kingdom of truth and righteous- 
ness. 1 Satan, unwilling to lose his dominion over the 
world, sought to prevent the enlargement and dominion 
of the church by devouring its increase. 2 But in this 

1 Rev. xii. 1, 2, 5. 2 Rev. xii. 3, 4. 



140 PROPHECY. 

he was defeated. The increase 1 of the church was 
taken under the special guardianship of Heaven ; and 
therefore its ultimate rule over the world has been 
secured. 2 The form under which Satan is represented 
in this malicious attempt is that of a great red dragon, 
having seven heads and ten horns. We learn else- 
where, 3 that these symbols refer to Rome, the city of 
the seven hills, and to the power of ten kingdoms which 
Rome wielded. In this case the seven heads are repre- 
sented as wearing seven crowns ; and therefore the per- 
secutions of imperial or pagan Rome are here intended. 

When the Roman empire passed from pagan to 
Christian hands, Satan, as represented in the symbol, 
was cast down from heaven. 4 Being no longer able to 
use the supreme power of the Empire to prevent the 
enlargement and dominion of the church, he aimed to 
engulf the whole church itself in an inundation of 
worldliness. 5 From this danger the true people of God 
escaped by retiring into obscurity; and the earth 
afforded help by furnishing places of retreat in which 
they could live separate from the world, and beyond the 
reach of its pernicious influence. 6 

The attempt of Satan to inundate the church with 
worldliness was successful so far as concerned the mass 

1 Or the prophecy may be interpreted to refer specially to the 
person of Constantine. The -woman's ''travailing in birth"' 
may denote an agonizing prayer of the persecuted church that 
some one should arise in their ranks who would have power to 
stop their cruel persecution. This prayer was answered when 
Constantine appeared among the followers of Christ 5 and his 
being "caught up unto God and to his throne" may denote his 
elevation to the imperial throne. 

2 Rev. xii. 5. 3 Rev. xvii. 9-18. 
4 Rev. xii. 9-11. 5 Rev. xii. 13-15. 
6 Rev. xii. 14-16. 



REVELATION OF JOHN. 141 

of professing Christians, usually called the Visible 
Church. 

When profession, instead of exposing to persecution, 
tended to procure imperial favor, multitudes assumed 
the Christian name who were destitute of the Christian 
spirit. Unholy men filled the churches, and unholy 
pastors or bishops, soon began to exercise an authority 
which Christ never conferred on his true ministers. 
This evil increased, till at length the bishop of Rome 
claimed to be the supreme head of the church, and ex- 
ercised civil as well as ecclesiastical jurisdiction. 

Satan accomplished much by the diffusion of worldli- 
ness and false doctrines among the professed followers 
of Christ : but this bloodless method of assailing the 
church did not satisfy his cruel malignity. He soon 
made papal Rome as zealous to shed Christian blood, as 
pagan Rome had ever been, fulfilling the predictions, 
" The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to 
make war with the remnant of her seed;" 1 and, "In 
her [Babylon] was found the blood of prophets, and of 
saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." 2 

By the elevation of the Pope a new power arose in 
Rome, which re-established the ancient empire in a new 
form. The Empire had received a deadly wound from 
the sword of barbarian invaders, A. d. 476. But the 
deadly wound was afterwards healed by the power which 
the Roman bishop had acquired. 3 

The four great empires of the world are all symbolized 
in the prophecy of Daniel by beasts, and after a like 
mode of representation, the Roman empire is symbolized 
in the book of Revelation by a beast having seven 



1 Rev. xii. 17. 2 Rev. xviii. 24. 

3 Rev. xiii. 3-15. 



142 PROPHECY. 

heads and ten horns. While pagan rule continued, the 
beast was represented as a dragon, 1 by interpretation 
the devil, 2 as if Satan, the god of idolatry, had then 
ruled in person. In the subsequent administration of 
the empire, the beast undergoes a change, but still 
retains the seven heads and ten horns. The seven heads 
refer to the seven hills on which Rome was built ; and 
therefore determine that in all the changes of power, 
its centre of influence was Rome. The ten horns de- 
note (105) the number of kingdoms included in the 
extent of the empire, comprehending in round numbers 
ten kingdoms, though their separate existence as king- 
doms was at first merely prospective ; for it is said of 
them, that they " have received no kingdom as yet ; but 
receive power as kings one hour with the beast." 3 To 
represent the ecclesiastical or spiritual power of Rome 
another beast is introduced : and the relations between 
the two beasts, as described in what is said of their co- 
operation and mutual dependence, symbolizes the rela- 
tion between the civil and ecclesiastical power of Rome. 4 
The bishop of Rome has directly exercised civil autho- 
rity over a part of Italy, since the eighth century, in 
which he obtained dominion over the exarchate of 
Ravenna, the kingdom of Lombardy, and the state of 
Rome ; and assumed in consequence the triple crown. 
His indirect power over the whole empire was fully es- 
tablished, when at the close of the same century he con- 
ferred imperial authority on Charlemagne (120). At 
that time, and for centuries following, he was considered 
God's vicegerent on earth, possessing a divine right to 
appoint or depose kings, and to absolve subjects from 



1 Rev. xii. 3. 2 Rev. xii. 9. 

* Rev. xvii. 12. 4 Rev. xiii. 11-18. 



REVELATION OF JOHN. 143 

allegiance to rulers who had fallen under his dis- 
pleasure. 

The secular power of the pope was a continuation of 
that which had been exercised by the Roman emperors, 
and is properly represented by the beast with seven 
heads and ten horns. This power would have become 
extinct, if the spiritual power of the papacy had not 
arisen, which, because distinct in origin and kind, is re- 
presented by a separate beast. The spiritual power, 
which was exercised over the minds of men, and was 
gained in part by pretended miracles, 1 secured homage 
to the secular power, and ultimately to that " image" 
of it 2 which was formed in the person of Charlemagne. 

The power of the pope has been declining ever since 
the Reformation. The monarchs of Europe now feel 
little obligation to him for their authority, and little 
dread of losing it by his anathema. At this moment 
Victor Emanuel, a man whom he has excommunicated, 
is the acknowledged king of Italy, and into his kingdom 
those states seem destined to become incorporated over 
which the pope now exercises civil jurisdiction. 

In predicting the downfall of the papal power, the 
prophecy includes that of the Roman Catholic Church, 
which it represents as a woman sitting on the seven- 
headed beast. 3 The true church is represented in its 
final triumph, as the bride, the Lamb's wife; 4 and, in 
its afflicted and persecuted state, as a woman driven 
into the wilderness. 5 The symbol of a woman is in like 
manner employed to denote the corrupt and antichris- 
tian church : but she bears the character, and wears 

1 Rev. xiii. 13 14. 2 Rev. xiii. 14. 

3 Rev. xvii. 3. 4 Rev. xxi. 9. 

5 Rev. xii. 6. 

13 K 



144 PROPHECY. 

the dress of a harlot. 1 So many particulars of the 
symbol agree with the known character and history of 
the Roman Catholic Church, that there is no difficulty 
in determining the design of the symbol. But if there 
were, it would be removed by the explanation which the 
Holy Spirit has given, and which amounts almost to a 
literal and express declaration of the design. When it 
is said, " the woman which thou sawest is that great cit} 
which reigneth over the kings of the earth," 2 no other 
than Home can be intended. Babylon was the seat of 
the first great empire in the world ; and Rome, as the 
capital of the fourth empire, took the place of Babylon, 
and was not without reason called in the prophecy by 
the name of Babylon. 3 But it is manifest that the 
ancient city on the Euphrates cannot be literally in- 
tended ; for this had long ceased to reign over the 
nations when John wrote. Farther, the mention of the 
"seven mountains on which the woman sitteth" 4 con- 
firms the application to Rome, which was built on seven 
hills. Also the forms of government administered at 
Rome are accurately enumerated. 5 Five of these, kings, 
consuls, dictators, decemvirs, and military tribunes, had 
preceded the time when John wrote. The sixth, the 
imperial, was then in existence, but John predicted that 
it would not continue. A deadly wound was inflicted 
in the conquest of Rome by Odoacer, who became king 
of Italy, and removed the seat of government to Ra- 
venna. During the greater part of the time until the 
dominion of the pope was established in Rome, the city 
was governed by a duke, dependent on the exarch of 

1 Rev. xvii. 4. 2 Rev. xvii. 18. 

3 Rev. xvii. 5. i Rev. xvii. 9. 

5 Rev. xvii. 10. 



REVELATION OF JOHN. 145 

Ravenna ; and to this period the words of the prophecy 
apply, " the beast that was, and is not." 1 If the feeble 
and dependent dukedom be numbered, the papacy which 
followed will be the eighth form of government ; but 
the dukedom is not numbered as a head of the beast. 
The prophecy marked the distinction, and history has 
confirmed its accuracy. We may notice moreover that 
the exposition of the ten horns agrees with the suppo- 
sition that Rome was intended. Of the four empires 
described in Daniel's prophecy, the only one divided 
into ten parts was the fourth, or Roman. 2 Yet this 
division had not taken place when John wrote, and 
therefore he calls them " Kings," which have received 
no kingdom as yet. 3 The proof that Rome was intended 
would scarcely have been greater, if the city had been 
expressly named. 

The propriety of representing the Roman Catholic 
Church as sustained by the papal power, cannot be 
questioned. Catholics themselves maintain that the 
church was built on Peter, and that the pope is Peter's 
successor. 

The fornication with which the woman is charged, is 
said to have been committed with her by the kings of 
the earth. 4 This manifestly alludes to that prostitution 
of things sacred and spiritual, which the papal church 
has made to sustain the power of kings, and which kings 
have repaid by conferring honor and wealth on the 
clergy, and especially on the pope. 

In many passages to which reference has been made 
in this section and section 6, Daniel, Paul, and John 
have predicted the rise of the papal power, the charac- 

1 Rev. xvii. 11. 

3 Rev. xvii. 12. * Rev. xvii. 2. 



146 PROPHECY. 

ter which it would assume, and the acts which it wouh 
perform. A study of these predictions, and a carefi. 
comparison of them with the events foretold, will leav 
no reasonable doubt that these men were taught of Go 
to write the prophecies which they have left on record. 
A remarkable period is repeatedly mentioned in th 
prophecies designated as "a time, times, and half u 
time," or three years and a half, or 42 months, or 126 
days. During this period, which is understood to be 
1260 years, the papal power was to continue, and God', 
witnesses were to prophesy in sackcloth. This perioo 
has not yet terminated ; for the papal power still con- 
tinues, and still obstructs the preaching of the gospel 
but the manifest decline of this power gives promis 
that the prediction of its utter overthrow will in du* 
time be fulfilled. As the rise was gradual, so is th* 
downfall. A step was made in the pope's advancemen 
in 533, when the Emperor Justinian appealed to him a 
the highest ecclesiastical authority ; and a step wa 
made in his decline 1260 years after at the commence- 
ment of the French revolution, in the progress of whicl 
he was dethroned and imprisoned. Another step in hi* 
rise was made in the year 606, when he was declarer 
universal bishop by the Emperor Phocas ; and a period 
of 1260 years after this date reaches to the present time, 
when his throne is undermined by popular revolution. 
But the papal power was not fully developed until if 
assumed the triple crown ; and we must therefore wait 
patiently until the fulness of time shall come for it& 
complete overthrow. 

Passing and Future Events. 
Much that is predicted in the book of Revelatioi 
remains yet to be accomplished. From unfulfilled 



REVELATION OF JOHN. 147 

prophecy no direct argument can be drawn that the 
prophecies proceeded from divine foreknowledge. 

But when a part of the prophecy has been fulfilled, 
and when the remaining part opens to view a grand 
consummation to which all the fulfilled part is tributary, 
the harmony and completeness of the entire system give 
assurance that it was arranged in wisdom, and that the 
foreknowledge which past events have already demon- 
strated, comprehended the end from the beginning, and 
bore like relation to the whole. Such is the system of 
prophecy contained in the book of Revelation. The 
final triumph of the Redeemer, the complete establish- 
ment of his kingdom, is an end worthy of God, worthy 
of that overruling Providence by which all the events 
predicted in the book are directed to the accomplish- 
ment of this glorious consummation. 

When prophecy is fulfilled by events which are now 
passing under our eyes, the proof that it proceeded from 
divine foreknowledge is in the highest degree impressive 
and satisfactory, if we are assured that the events which 
we observe are the things predicted ; but on this point 
there is danger of mistake. Passing events have to our 
view a magnitude greater than they really possess, and 
we are prone to seek a place for them in prophecy, when 
perhaps the prophecy entirely overlooked them. It is 
otherwise with respect to past events which hay,e taken 
their proper place in history, and appear to the historian 
in retrospect, as they did to the prophet in prospect, all 
in their fixed order, and each with its proper degree of 
prominence. So the historian marks the prominent 
changes in the Roman empire, precisely as they ap- 
peared to John in the opening of the seven seals ; and 
the succession of blows which caused the downfall of the 
empire, precisely as they were seen by John in the 
13* 



1 18 PROPHECY. 

sounding of the seven trumpets. The agreement is so 
complete in both series, as respects each event in itself 
and as respects the order of the whole, that infidelity 
must close its eyes or become convinced that what the 
historian has recorded is precisely what the prophet 
foresaw. 

As the period which followed the opening of the 
seventh seal was subdivided into a new series marked 
by the sounding of seven trumpets ; so the period which 
follows the sounding of the seventh trumpet, is sub- 
divided into a new series, marked by the pouring out 
of seven vials. These vials denote the judgments which 
are now causing the downfall of the papal power ; and 
consequently the period of their being poured out in- 
cludes the time in which we live. Though we have less 
advantage for interpreting and applying the prophecy 
than will be possessed by future generations, there are 
many points which may be determined with a good de- 
gree of certainty. 

The Reformation predicted in the 10th chapter, pre- 
pared the way for the sounding of the seventh trumpet 
which was to complete the downfall of Roman power ; 
and an angel having the everlasting gospel to preach is 
described in the 14th chapter, as preceding the angel 
that announces the fall of Babylon. 1 There can be no 
doubt that the increase of spiritual knowledge is an 
effectual means of correcting and exploding papal errors, 
and overthrowing papal power ; and there is strong pro- 
bability that the flight of the angel having the everlast- 
ing gospel to preach, denotes the extraordinary effort 
which commenced just before the close of the last cen- 
tury for spreading the gospel, by foreign and domestic 

1 Rev. xiv. 6-S. 



REVELATION 1' JOHN. 141) 

missions, Bible societies, Sunday schools, &c. But the 
means denoted by the outpouring of the vials, are of 
very different character, since what is poured from the 
vials is called " the wrath of God." 1 

The places in which the seven vials are poured are the 
same as those which were affected by the sounding of 
the trumpets : and are mentioned in the same order. 
This fact suggests that the order of succession in the 
pouring out of the vials may possibly have been deter- 
mined by geography, rather than by the chronology of 
events preindicated. But, in the scheme of interpret- 
ation which will be proposed in the next paragraph, the 
order of succession in the divine judgments which are 
supposed to be preindicated will be found to correspond 
in the main with that of the vials, especially if the be- 
ginnings of the several judgments are regarded. In 
the changes of the Roman Empire which followed the 
opening of the seven seals, the preceding event did not 
always give way to its successor, but remained and co- 
operated with it ; so, according to our scheme of inter- 
pretation, one vial of wrath poured out continues its 
destroying influence after the next has followed. 

The events which we suppose to be intended by the 
outpouring of the seven vials are the following : — 1. 
The general prevalence of infidelity and corrupt morals 2 
exhibited especially in the French Revolution, which 
occurred almost simultaneously with the rise of modern 
missions. The prevalence of infidelity tended greatly 
to weaken the power of popery. 2. The naval battles 
which immediately followed the French Revolution, and 
destroyed the fleets of the nations that upheld the 
papacy. 3 3. The invasion of northern Italy by Napo- 

1 Rev. xv. 1. 2 Rev. xvi. 2. 3 Rev. xvi. 3. 



150 PROPHECY. 

leon Bonaparte. 1 4. The wars which succeeded in 
Europe, and kept it as if in a continual blaze. 2 5. The 
dethronement and imprisonment of Pius VI. in 1798 ; 
and the dethronement of Pius IX. in 1848, with his 
subsequent afflictions. 3 6. The gradual wasting of the 
Turkish power, 4 which is fitly represented by the drying 
up of a river, and especially of the river Euphrates, 
from which it arose, 5 and to which it extends. 7. The 
seventh vial has not yet been poured out, and the pre- 
ceding six have not yet completed their effect. 

Without undue confidence in the application of pro- 
phecy to recent and passing events, we see in the pre- 
sent condition of the world evident indication that the 
papal and Mahometan powers are near their end. Their 
destruction will fulfil prophecy, and remove powerful 
obstacles to the spread of Christianity. In this general 
view of passing events, whatever may be said of minute 
details, the events fulfil the prophecy, and prove that 
it was given by the omniscient God. 

No religion except that of the Bible has ever risked 
its reputation and success on the prediction of future 
events. But the Bible contains a system of predictions 
so extensive, and at the same time, in many of its parts-, 
so minute, that it may be considered a forewritten his- 
tory of the world ; and the evidence which it affords 
that God must have been the author of the Bible is 
truly overwhelming. 

Section IX. Date of the Prophecies. 

In a few cases infidels have attempted to impugn the 
evidence from the prophecies, by alleging that they 

1 Rev. xvi. 4-7. 2 Rev. xvi. 8, 9. 

3 Rov. xvi. 10, 11. 4 Rev. xvi. 12-16. 

5 Rev. ix. 14. 



DATE OF THE PROPHECIES. 151 

were written after the events which they describe. This 
method was adopted as early as the third century by 
Porphyry (57 a), who in opposition to historical proof 
maintained that Daniel's prophecy concerning the four 
great empires of the world was written in the time of 
Antiochus Epiphanes, and that as far down as that time 
it was history instead of prophecy. In this unfounded 
hypothesis he has admitted the exact fulfilment of the 
prophecy down to the time of Antiochus, and reduced 
the question between himself and Christians to one of 
simple history, in which his opponents had well-estab- 
lished truth to oppose to his conjecture. But Porphyry, 
even if we allow him his conjecture, is a valuable wit- 
ness in our favor. He gives proof that the prophecy 
in question was certainly extant in his day ; and more, 
that it was extant in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes ; 
since so acute and learned an opponent of Christianity 
would not have assigned so early a date to the prediction 
if he could have found a plausible pretext for attribut- 
ing to it a later origin. Now, a large part of Daniel's 
prophecy has been fulfilled since the days of Antiochus. 
It was not until about two hundred years after that the 
death of Christ occurred, an event which Daniel pre- 
dicted with a definite computation of the time when it 
was to take place. In the time of Antiochus the Roman 
dominion had not attained sufficient extent to be con- 
sidered an empire of the world ; and yet Daniel's pro- 
phecy describes it as the fourth great empire, more pow- 
erful than those which had preceded it. The division 
of the empire into ten kingdoms, and the rise of the 
papal power, events predicted by Daniel, have occurred 
not only since the time of Antiochus, but also since the 
time of Porphyry. 

Some modern infidels, in imitation of Porphyry, have 



152 Prophecy. 

assumed that Isaiah's prediction concerning the capture 
of Babylon by Cyrus was written after the event. In 
this they, like Porphyry, admit the exactness with 
which the prophecy was fulfilled, and oppose mere con- 
jecture to the truthful testimony of history. In this 
case also, unfortunately for the conjecture, the prophecy 
extends down to modern times. It describes not only 
the capture of Babylon, but also its utter desolation, an 
event which did not occur until some centuries after 
Christ. Yet, if anything in history is true, it is certain 
that the book of Isaiah formed a part of the Hebrew 
Bible in the time of Christ. 

Many of the predictions examined in the preceding 
sections of this chapter are at the present time in 
progress of fulfilment. Respecting the date of these 
there is no need for appeal to history : and these alone, 
if all others were set aside, furnish sufficient proof that 
the Scriptures contain revelations which have proceeded 
from divine foreknowledge. But the dates of the other 
prophecies are as well ascertained as the general facts 
of ancient history, and are true beyond all rational 
doubt. The whole taken together forms an immense 
mass of evidence, establishing conclusively the divine 
origin of the Bible. 



CHAPTER VII. 
MIRACLES. 



Section I. Credibility of Miracles. 

GOD HAS POWER TO WORK MIRACLES ; AND, ON SUFFI- 
CIENT TESTIMONY THAT HE HAS WROUGHT A MIRACLE, 
THE FACT OUGHT TO BE BELIEVED. 

I. God has power to work miracles. 

A miracle has been defined to be a suspension of the 
laws of nature. A universal suspension is manifestly 
not intended in this definition ; but such a suspension 
only as relates to the particular event. According to 
the course of nature, a dead man remains dead, and his 
body gradually becomes decomposed. The laws of 
nature which determine these sequences become sus- 
pended or inoperative if the dead man is restored to 
life ; and the restoration is therefore a miraculous event. 
A miracle exists whenever the laws of nature become 
inoperative, that is, whenever a sequence occurs which 
they do not determine. 

To judge infallibly whether an event is miraculous, 
we must know all the laws of nature that can affect the 
case. If, at the command of some prophet, a ball of 
metal should remain suspended in the atmosphere, or an 
axe should swim on the surface of the water, the pheno- 
menon would be miraculous, because it would not be the 
sequence that nature's laws would determine ; but it is 

(153) 



154 MIRACLES. 

not a miracle when a needle is suspended in the air by 
the attraction of a magnet. In the latter case the law 
of gravitation is counteracted and controlled as truly 
and effectually as in the former ; but the laws of nature 
are not suspended, for the counteracting and controlling 
cause is natural, and operates in obedience to the laws 
of nature. A person ignorant of magnetic power may 
be deceived into the belief that a needle held up by a 
magnet is suspended by supernatural influence ; but 
what at first seemed to him supernatural, appears natural 
as soon as he has learned the true limits of nature's power. 
The notions of time and space are not more familiar to 
the minds of men than the notions of cause and effect. 
In the phenomena of the universe, innumerable orders 
of sequences are observable, in which the events stand 
to each other in the relation of cause and effect ; and 
ordinary men take sufficient cognisance of these se- 
quences to serve them for most purposes of practical 
utility. Philosophers make more extended researches, 
and discover orders of sequence, or laws of nature, 
which are unknown to ordinary men ; and they are there- 
fore better able to judge in some cases whether events 
are natural or miraculous. 

But philosophers arrogate too much to their science 
if they claim either that it has discovered, or that it is 
able to discover laws which determine the occurrence 
of all possible events. To illustrate this point, let us 
imagine some philosopher wholly ignorant of animated 
nature, but perfectly skilled in the laws which govern 
the material universe, and let us introduce him to a view 
of muscular motion, and call on him to explain it. All 
his knowledge of impulse, attraction, and the modes in 
which material bodies act and react on each other, fails 
to explain the phenomena which he beholds. He finds 



CREDIBILITY OF MIRACLES. 155 

laws of nature which he knows, controlled and sus- 
pended by an agency which he knows not. A limb at 
rest does not continue at rest, and a limb in motion does 
not continue to move, as his philosophy teaches him to 
expect ; and the whole body springs from the ground, 
as if the law of gravitation were for the time repealed. 
All these phenomena are supernatural to our philoso- 
pher until he has enlarged the boundaries of his know- 
ledge, and explored a department of nature in which 
matter is operated on by mind. When he has entered 
into this department, how shall he know its boundaries ? 
When brute minds operate on brute limbs, the operation 
is natural, and conforms to laws of nature. So it is 
when human minds operate on human limbs, or by 
means of them on material objects, or on the bodies 
and minds of other men. But how shall it be deter- 
mined that nature's realms extend no further, and that 
she has no laws which govern beyond these boundaries ? 
Has nature nothing to do with angelic agency, nothing 
to do with the agency of God ? The agency of God in 
all the ordinary operations of his Providence we account 
natural ; and, if we could comprehend his Providence in 
all his dispensations, we might discover that miracles 
have their laws as well as the movements of Providence 
to which we are accustomed. Miracles, like showers of 
stars, occur but seldom ; but it cannot be inferred from 
their infrequency that their coming is not determined 
by some law. As a man who is moving his limbs regu- 
larly, in walking along in a straight line, may, at a 
prescribed point, turn aside from this course ; so God 
may, by a rule known to himself, deviate from the 
ordinary course of his Providence ; and, so far as re- 
spects him, the distinction between what is natural and 
what is supernatural or miraculous may be merely rela- 
14 



156 MIRACLES. 

tive to our ignorance. But God's miraculous Works and 
their laws, if they have any, belong to a realm which 
lies beyond the province of philosophy, and which 
philosophy has neither the means nor the ability to 
explore. 

Philosophy is guilty of something worse than arro- 
gance if it affirms that miracles are impossible. To 
affirm that nature's laws cannot be suspended is to deny 
the existence of nature's God. The philosopher who 
maintains that miracles are impossible is an atheist. 
All the arrangements and movements of visible things 
are referred by him to the laws of nature. Beyond 
these he knows no governing power, and investing these 
with supremacy he allows no place in the universe to 
anything which does not conform to these rules. The 
pious mind cannot bound its view by these abstractions, 
but sees God in all the movements of nature, and re- 
gards the laws of nature as merely the modes in which 
he chooses to operate. Hence true piety readily admits 
that God may for sufficient cause change the mode of 
his operations, or, in other words, work miracles. 

A miracle is an event which cannot be accounted for 
otherwise than by referring it to divine agency. Phi- 
losophy claims to have accounted for an event when it 
has pointed out an antecedent event as its cause. It 
traces effects and causes through lines of sequence 
which run back to the creation, and there terminate, 
leaving philosophy obliged to accept the doctrine of 
theology, that there is a great first cause, for whose 
existence and operations philosophy cannot account, and 
from whom all these lines of sequence have originated. 
A miracle has its consequents like any other event, but 
differs from other events in not having a natural cause 
as its antecedent. It begins a new line of sequence, 



CREDIBILITY OF MIRACLES. 157 

which, like those commencing at the creation, must be 
attributed to divine power. 

"When we say that a miracle is an event which cannot 
be accounted for otherwise than by referring it to divine 
agency, full scope is allowed to test it according to the 
most improved methods of scientific investigation. But 
there are many cases in which unlearned men can judge 
of nature's powers as correctly as the most learned phi- 
losopher. It does not require a philosopher to deter- 
mine that a gentle call to " arise" or " come forth," has 
no natural efficacy to awake from the sleep of death 
those whom the loudest thunders leave undisturbed. 
"When a man known to have been born blind is suddenly 
made to see by an application of clay to his eyes every 
one knows that there is no natural efficacy in the applica- 
tion to produce vision. W r hen a congenital cataract has 
been removed by a surgical operation, and the patient 
is made to see, there is room for scientific inquiry into 
the efficacy of the means employed ; but scientific in- 
quiry into the efficacy of clay to give sight to the blind 
is wholly useless ; and Galilean fishermen can judge on 
this point as correctly as Newton. As it is possible for 
God to work a miracle, so it is possible for even un- 
learned men to have a rational conviction that a miracle 
has been wrought. 

II. On sufficient testimony that God has wrought a 
miracle, the fact ought to be believed. 

In admitting the general credibility of ancient hea- 
then historians, we do not hold ourselves bound to be- 
lieve the accounts which they have given of prodigies 
and supernatural events. We make allowance for the 
superstition of the times, and acquit the historians of 
any design to deceive, when they record as facts legends 
and rumors accredited by themselves and popularly be- 



158 MIRACLES. 

lieved ; but we take the liberty of suspecting that there 
may be a mistake with respect to these marvellous oc- 
currences, and of examining for ourselves the testimony 
on which they were admitted to record. Thus far we 
have claimed for the sacred writers no other credit than 
that which is due to other faithful historians ; and, find- 
ing in their writings many accounts of miraculous 
events, it becomes necessary to inquire into the credi- 
bility of these accounts. In a superstitious age fabu- 
lous wonders obtained a ready credence ; but the 
philosophic caution of modern times inclines to suspect 
the truth of reports or records which describe events 
that cannot be accounted for. Hence the tendency of 
the present age requires a strict scrutiny of the grounds 
on which the miracles of Scripture are to be believed, a 
scrutiny from which Christianity does not shrink. 

We the less readily believe in miracles because we 
have never witnessed them ourselves ; but it does not 
accord with philosophy or common sense to disbelieve 
everything that lies beyond the range of our own per- 
sonal experience. Such incredulity is reproved by the 
folly of the Siamese monarch, who would not believe 
that water anywhere becomes solid so as to bear up the 
wheels of a carriage. Nor can we decide against the 
credibility of miracles on the ground that they are con- 
trary to universal experience. This would be to assume 
that no miracle ever did happen, that is, to beg the ques- 
tion in dispute. If a miracle was ever witnessed by 
any man, or number of men, their experience would be 
in favor of that miracle, and consequently the opposite 
experience could not be universal. Nor can it be said 
with propriety of all the world beside, that their expe- 
rience is against the miracle, unless they, having been 
in circumstances favorable to the witnessing of it, know 



CREDIBILITY OF MIRACLES. 159 

that it did not happen. Events are not contrary to the 
experience of any one merely because they lie beyond 
the range of his experience. Of very few persons can 
it be said that it has fallen within the range of their 
experience to witness electricity drawn from the clouds, 
as in Franklin's experiment : but it is contrary to no 
man's experience ; and philosophy and common sense 
require it to be believed on the testimony of Franklin 
alone- 
It will perhaps be objected that Franklin's experi- 
ment may be repeated by other men, and that the result 
of it is to be believed because it accords with the laws of 
nature ; but that miracles, not being the result of na- 
ture's laws, are not to be believed with like readiness. 
We admit the distinction ; but we deny that the result 
of philosophical experiments is believed because it ac- 
cords with the laws of nature. These experiments 
sometimes discover laws of nature before unknown, and 
therefore the result must be known before the law can 
be determined. The senses of the experimenter and 
other observers of the experiment, are the original wit- 
nesses of the result, and on their testimony philosophy 
and common sense are compelled to rely. The question 
arises whether the result accords with known laws of 
nature, or develops some law before unknown, or indi- 
cates some agency controlling the laws of nature. 

Any extraordinary phenomena which may be believed 
on the testimony of the senses, may be credibly testified 
to those who have not personally witnessed them. Few 
persons have seen a shower of stars, or a man restored 
to life after three days of suspended animation, or sight 
regained after the removal of a cataract ; yet the credi- 
bility of such facts, when reported by truthful witnesses, 
all persons admit. Now we maintain that the eye-wit- 



160 M IRACLES. 

nesses of the wonderful works recorded in the gospel 
history, are worthy of belief; that they have faithfully 
reported to us what their senses testified to them, and 
that the question whether supernatural agency was con- 
cerned in the event, appeals as directly to our judgment 
as it did to theirs. They tell us that water-pots at 
Cana were filled with water, and that when drawn out 
it was wine ; — that the sea was boisterous, but, after 
Christ's command, was calm ; — and that Lazarus was 
dead, and afterwards was alive. The facts presented to 
us by their testimony are as if our own eyes had seen 
them ; and the question comes to us for decision, just 
as if we had been the witnesses of the phenomena, 
whether the change produced indicates supernatural 
agency. 

In the observations which we have made on the pro- 
phecies of Scripture we have found indications of divine 
agency obvious to our own senses. Our own eyes read 
the predictions, and our own eyes see their fulfilment. 
These observations prepare us to admit the more readily 
a divine agency in the marvellous works which the Gos- 
pels record. So, in the morality and doctrines of the 
Bible, and in the wonderful propagation of Christianity, 
the holiness, wisdom, and power of God are clearly 
discernible. The morality and doctrines of Christianity 
have been already considered. In the next section we 
shall consider the propagation of Christianity previous 
to the examination of the miraculous works performed 
by Christ and his apostles, as recorded in the New 
Testament ; and shall show that the propagation of 
Christianity may be regarded as a stupendous miracle, 
the result of which is now visible to the eyes of all. 
The Bible contains the morality and the doctrines which 
have proceeded from God ; and the propagation of 



CREDIBILITY OF MIRACLES. lGi 

Christianity is a conquest which the Bible has achieved 
through the power of God. If such a Bible and such a 
religion could not exist in the world without the agency 
of God, we need not hesitate to believe the miracles 
which that Bible reports, and by which the religion was 
attested. We have become, so to speak, familiar with 
displays of divinity, and therefore without surprise be- 
hold them in the miracles of the Bible. Scepticism can 
no longer bar out the belief of miracles, after we have 
been compelled to admit the agency of God in the pro- 
phecies, morality, and doctrines of the Bible, and the 
propagation of Christianity ; and to this admission our 
own senses oblige us. On their testimony we believe 
the facts which lie at the foundation of natural religion, 
and their testimony can assure us as well that a God 
exists in the Bible and Christianity, as that he exists in 
creation and providence. And when the agency of God 
has once been admitted in however small a degree, 
Scepticism is dethroned, and the way is legitimately 
opened to the inquiry, What phenomena ought to be 
attributed to this agency ? 

The antiquity of the gospel miracles is no valid objec- 
tion to their credibility. The facts were committed to 
record soon after they occurred, and while the proofs 
of them were fresh and accessible to all. This perma- 
lent record annihilates the interval of time, and carries 
is back to the first age, to study the facts and judge of 
he agency which produced them. If the facts make 
'ess impression on our minds, at this remote period, the 
lisadvantage in this respect is more than compensated 
by the increased means which we possess to form a just 
judgment concerning them. We understand the laws 
>f nature better than they did who were eye-witnesses 
>f the miracles; and we understand better than the 



162 MIRACLES. 

primitive Christians the laws of evidence, and the method 
of determining facts by testimony. We now sit in judg- 
ment on records of heathen prodigies made by truthful 
historians, and pronounce them unworthy of belief. To 
this severe scrutiny it is just and right that we should 
bring the record of the Christian miracles ; and we shall 
find, to the confirmation of our faith, that by an order- 
ing of divine wisdom, the abundance and character of 
the testimony are fully adapted to meet the severity of 
the scrutiny. 

We enjoy a further advantage over ancient Christians 
in the increased attestation to the Bible by the fulfil- 
ment of prophecy, the propagation of Christianity, and 
the wider demonstration of its beneficial influence. 
Miracles arrested the attention of men and made con- 
verts to the new religion. But if the vivid impression 
of recent miracles has somewhat faded from the mind by 
the lapse of time, those other attestations have gained 
strength, and confirm the assurance that the miracles 
were wrought by the power of God. 

Section II. Propagation of Christianity. 

THE WONDERFUL PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY WAS 
NOT EFFECTED WITHOUT MIRACLE. 

The propagation of Christianity may be regarded as a 
standing miracle. In considering it, we notice, 

I. Its rapidity and extent. On the fiftieth day after 
the resurrection of Christ, his apostles commenced their 
public ministry in obedience to his last command ; and 
in one day three thousand were converted, and added 
to the church. The number of the disciples continued 
to increase in Jerusalem, until they were scattered by 
persecution ; and then, by their preaching in the places 
to which they were driven, other converts were made, 



PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 163 

and churches were formed in all the surrounding coun- 
tries. The New Testament history is limited to the first 
thirty years of the apostolic ministry, and chiefly to that 
of Paul ; yet it records the success of the gospel in 
almost all the known countries of the world. The Ro- 
• man historian Tacitus (49), who wrote about the end of 
this period, has left testimony that Christianity had 
extended to Rome, and that a great multitude in the 
imperial city were so firmly persuaded of its doctrines as 
to suffer martyrdom for their sake. The testimony of 
subsequent writers (39 a, 51 a. 53 a, 57 c, 60 a) shows 
that the Roman Empire became filled with the new re- 
ligion, that idolatry fell before it, and in about three 
centuries became a vanishing relic of past times. The 
catacombs of Rome (71) also furnish testimony of the 
early and extensive progress of Christianity. 

II. The obstacles. The new religion had great diffi- 
culties to contend with. It was opposed bj Jews and 
G-entiles, by civil and religious powers, by the preju- 
dices of the common people, and the contempt of the 
learned and great. The holiness of its precepts ren- 
dered it unwelcome to the carnal heart ; and the respect 
which it required for the crucified Nazarene, rendered it 
offensive to human pride. They who entered the Chris- 
tian ranks were compelled to renounce the world, suffer 

the loss of all things, endure reproach, persecution, and 
torture ; and multitudes of them were put to death for 
adhering to the hated religion. 

III. The agents employed. The propagators of 
Christianity were not men of learning, renown, or power. 
The Jews were despised generally by the rest of man- 
kind ; and the Galilean Jews were despised by the rest 
of their own nation. Out of this despised class of men, 
the agents for the conquest of the world were chosen ; 



16-1 MIRACLES. 

and not from the highest ranks of these people, but 
chiefly from the fishing-boats on the Lake of Tiberias. 
And these men engaged in their work without plan. 
They were slow to understand the spiritual nature of 
their master's kingdom ; and, for a considerable time 
after they began their work, they did not conceive that 
their mission extended to uncircumcised Gentiles. The} 
at first confined their ministry to Jerusalem, and it wa: 
not their own plan, but the persecution of their enemies 
which enlarged the boundaries of their labors. 

IV. The means employed. The first ministers of 
Christ did not adopt any of the measures which tin 
policy of crafty men would have suggested. They mad; 
no effort to ward off popular prejudices, or to insinuatv 
their doctrine quietly among persons whose influence, 
if gained over to their cause, would have conduced to 
its success. Without the least effort to adapt their doc- 
trine to the acceptance of mankind, they proclaimed it 
authoritatively, and required men to receive it as the 
word of God. 

V. Time and place. Christianity was introduced m 
the Augustan age, one of the most enlightened periods 
in the history of the world. Had it been an imposture 
the time was most favorable for detecting it. In Judea 
where it originated, the attestations necessary to establisl 
the divine authority of a religion were better understoo( 
than in any other country. At Jerusalem before Jewisl 
doctors, and at Rome before the brightest geniuses of 
the world, the new religion exhibited its pretensions, 
and gained many converts. 

YI. Character of the converts. Among the convert; 1 
were persons of all ranks and conditions of life. Among 
the Jews no one was better qualified than Saul of 
Tarsus to decide on the claims of Christianity, ano 



PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 16- 

among the Romans the deputy Sergius Paulus, whor 
the Jewish sorcerer endeavored to turn away from th< 
faith, 1 was an intelligent judge of the evidence on which 
the religion challenged acceptance. While great men 
bowed in humility before the doctrines of the cross, 
multitudes who had been degraded by their vices, felt 
the power of the divine word, and exhibited its sanctify- 
ing influence in lives of sobriety and virtue. 

VII. Grand design. The propagation of Christianity 
was not a successful accident. It had been foretold by 
the prophets of the Old Testament, as the glory and 
blessing of the coming age. Christ repeatedly foretold 
it as the success of his mission into the world. He pre- 
faced his last commission to the feeble band of his 
apostles with the declaration, " All power is given unto 
me in heaven and in earth," 2 and the promise which 
accompanied the commission, pledged his presence to 
give success to his cause to the end of the world. The 
feeble agents employed were to go forth in the strength 
of their Lord, and conquer the world in his name, and 
bless all nations with the gospel of his grace. No simi- 
lar design was ever conceived by the founder or the 
propagators of any other religion. The Jews mad( 
proselytes to their party, and Mahomet sought to in- 
crease his power, by multiplying his followers : but th< 
grand design to propagate a religion through the eartl 
for the purpose of diffusing blessings everywhere anion*' 
all nations, ranks, and conditions of mankind, is peculiai 
to the Author of Christianity. 

VIII. Omnipotence displayed. In the propagation of 
Christianity, the power of God has been as truly dis- 

1 Acts, xiii. 8. 2 Matt, xxviii. 18. 



166 MIRACLES. 

played, though in a different manner, as in the miracles 
wrought by Christ and his apostles. The miracles have 
ceased, but the edifice of Christianity reared by the 
hand of the Almighty, stands before us as a perpetual 
miracle. In the power to which the first ministers of 
the gospel trusted for the success of their ministry, the 
foundation of the edifice was laid, and the same power 
has built and defended the superstructure. Papal cor- 
ruptions, state alliances, worldly conformity, and false 
doctrines, would have destroyed Christianity if divine 
power had not preserved it. 

In viewing the propagation of Christianity as a great 
miracle, some difficulty arises from the distinction which 
has been usually made between the ordinary spiritual 
influence by which regeneration is produced, and those 
extraordinary operations of the Holy Spirit by which 
miracles were anciently wrought. The ordinary regene- 
rating influence has not usually been called miraculous. 
It operates everywhere, and at all times, in connection 
with the faithfully-preached gospel, and with so much 
uniformity as to resemble the laws of nature in their 
unvarying course, rather than an occasional and miracu- 
lous suspension of these laws. Moreover, the effect of 
the truth on the mind is precisely that which it ought 
to produce, and which it would produce if the heart were 
rightly disposed. No new powers are conferred ; no 
new revelation is made ; and no law of the mind appears 
to be suspended. The mode of operation is to us in- 
scrutable : and, though not usually styled miraculous, 
may with propriety be called supernatural. But for all 
the purposes of the present argument, the distinction 
between things miraculous and things supernatural is 
merely verbal. If men believe according to the working 



OF CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES. 167 

of God's mighty power, 1 the production of faith is a 
work of omnipotence, and affixes the seal of omnipo- 
tence to the truth believed. Hence the propagation 
of Christianity, even if it had been throughout eifected 
without any miracle in the restricted sense of the term, 
is nevertheless a display of divine power. Paul says, 
" I have planted, Apollos watered ; but God gave the 
increase;" 2 and, in another place, "The gospel is the 
power of God unto salvation." 3 

But the gospel cannot have been propagated without 
miracle in the restricted sense of the term. It was 
received from the lips of the apostles, as confirmed by 
the miracles which they wrought ; and the multitude 
who saw the miracles believed in their reality with a 
conviction which death itself could not shake. Now, 
either the miracles were real, or some miraculous 
change must have been wrought on the senses or in- 
tellectual powers of the beholders. In which of these 
ways the miracle occurred, that is, whether it was 
objective or subjective, is a matter of no importance in 
the present argument. In either view, Christianity was 
not propagated without miracle. 

Section III. Miracles of Christ and his 
Apostles. 

christ and his apostles wrought numerous 
miracles. 

Yv T e have seen that it is not irrational to admit the 
possibility that miracles may have been performed ; and 
we have seen, in the fulfilment of prophecy and the 
propagation of Christianity, displays of the Deity before 

1 Eph. i. 19. 2 1 Cor. iii. 6. 3 Rom. i. 16. 

15 



168 MIRACLES. 

the eyes of all men, equally as supernatural as the 
power necessary to "work miracles. We are therefore 
prepared to enter, unbiassed by scepticism, on an exami- 
nation of the facts in the New Testament history which 
have been considered miraculous. 

The history contained in the four Gospels affirms that 
Christ wrought numerous works which w T ere deemed 
miraculous, and particularly notices the following : 1. 
Water turned into wine at Cana. 1 2. A nobleman's son 
healed at Capernaum. 2 3. Miraculous draught of 
fishes. 3 4. A demoniac healed in the synagogue. 4 5. 
Peter's wife's mother healed. 5 6. A leper healed. 6 7. 
A paralytic healed. 7 8. An infirm man healed at the 
pool of Bethesda, 8 9. A withered hand healed. 9 10. 
A centurion's servant healed. 10 11. A widow's son 
raised. 11 12. A demoniac healed. 12 13. Tempest stilled. 13 
14. Two demoniacs of Gadara dispossessed. 14 15. A 
diseased woman healed. 15 16. Jairus' daughter raised. 16 
17. Two blind men healed. 17 18. A dumb spirit cast 

1 John, ii. 1-12. 2 John, iv. 46-54. 

3 Luke, v. 1-7. 

4 Mark, i. 21-28 ; Luke, iv. 31-37. 

5 Matt. viii. 14, 15 ; Mark, i. 30, 31 ; Luke iv. 38, 39. 

6 Matt. viii. 2-4; Mark, i. 40-45; Luke, v. 12-14. 

7 Matt. ix. 2-8 ; Mark, ii. 1-12; Luke, v. 17, 18. 

8 John v. 1-15. 

9 Matt. xii. 9-14 ; Mark, iii. 1-6 ; Luke, vi. 6-} 1. 

10 Matt. viii. 5-13; Luke, vii. 1-10. 

11 Luke, vii. 11-17. 

12 Matt. xii. 22 ; Luke, xi. 14, 15. 

13 Matt. viii. 23-27 ; Mark, iv. 35-41 ; Luke, viii. 22-25, 

14 Matt, viii. 28-34 ; Mark, v. 1 ; Luke, viii. 26-40. 

15 Matt. ix. 20-22; Mark, v. 25-35 ; Luke viii. 43-48. 
10 Mark, v. 22-43 ; Luke, viii. 4L-56. 

17 Matt. ix. 27-31. 



OF CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES. 169 

out. 1 19. Five thousand fed. 2 20. Jesus walked on 
the water. 3 21. A Syro-Phoenician woman's daughter 
healed. 4 22. A deaf and dumb man healed. 5 23. Four 
thousand fed. 6 24. A blind man healed. 7 25. A de- 
moniac healed. 8 26. Tribute-money miraculously pro- 
vided. 9 27. Ten lepers cleansed. 10 28. A man born 
blind healed. 11 29. Lazarus raised. 12 30. An infirm 
woman healed. 13 31. Two blind men healed. 14 32. Fig- 
tree cursed. 15 33. Miraculous draught of fishes. 16 

Besides these miracles which the evangelists have 
particularly noticed, they inform us that Christ wrought 
many others. Thus, on the same evening on which he 
healed Peter's wife's mother, it is said, " At even, when 
the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were 
diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. 
And all the city was gathered together at the door. 
And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, 
and cast out many devils ; and suffered not the . devils 
to speak, because they knew him." 17 On another occa- 

1 Matt. ix. 32, 33. 

2 Matt. xiv. 15-21; Mark, vi. 35-45: Luke, ix. 12-17; John, 
vi. 5-14. 

3 Matt, xiv. 22-36 ; Mark, vi. 45-56 ; John, vi. 15-21. 

4 Matt. xv. 21-28 ; Mark, vii. 24-30. 

5 Mark, vii. 32-35. 

6 Matt, xv. 32-38 ; Mark, viii. 1-9. 

7 Mark, viii. 22-26. 

8 Matt, xvii. 14-21 ; Mark, ix. 14-29 ; Luke, ix. 37-43. 

9 Matt. xvii. 24-27. 10 Luke, xvii. 11-19. 
11 John, ix. 1-41 ; x. 1-21. 12 John, xi. 1-46. 

13 Luke, xiii. 10-13. 

14 Matt. xx. 29-34 ; Mark, x. 46-52 ; Luke, xviii. 34-43. 

15 Matt. xxi. 18-22; Mark, xi. 13-21. 

16 John, xxi. 4-6. 

17 Mark, i. 32-34; Matt. viii. 16 ; Luke, iv. 40-41. 



170 MIRACLES. 

sion it is said, " Jesus departed from thence, and came 
nigh unto the sea of Galilee ; and went up into a moun- 
tain and sat down there. And great multitudes came 
unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, 
dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down 
at Jesus' feet ; and he healed them ; Insomuch that the 
multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, 
the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the 
blind to see; and they glorified the God of Israel." 1 
Moreover, there are numerous general notices that he 
healed multitudes as he journeyed from place to place 
during his ministry. " Jesus went about all Galilee, 
teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel 
of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, 
and all manner of disease, among the people. And his 
fame went throughout all Syria ; and they brought unto 
him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases 
and torments, and those which were possessed with 
devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had 
the palsy ; and he healed them." 2 " Great multitudes 
followed him, and he healed them all." 3 " God 
anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, 
and with power ; who went about doing good, and 
healing all that were oppressed of the devil." 4 

Of the miracles wrought by the apostles before the 
crucifixion of their master, we have no particular ac- 
counts, but when sent forth by him during his personal 
ministry, they were commissioned " to preach the king- 
dom of God, and to heal the sick:" and it is said 
" they departed, and went through the towns, preaching 
the gospel, and healing everywhere." 5 After the resur- 

1 Matt xv. 29-32. 2 Matt, i v. 23, 24 ; Mark, i. 39. 

3 Matt. xii. 15 ; Mark, iii. 7-12. 

4 Acts, x. -38. 5 Luke, ix. 2, 6. 



OF CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES. 171 

rection of Christ, the miracles wrought by the apostles 
must have been exceedingly numerous. This is mani- 
fest from such passages as the following : " Insomuch 
that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and 
laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the 
shadow of Peter passing by, mig overshadow some of 
them. There came also a multitude out of the cities 
round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and 
them which were vexed with unclean spirits ; and they 
were healed every one." 1 " God wrought special mira- 
cles by the hand of Paul : so that from his body were 
brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the 
diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went 
out of them." 2 

There were also miracles connected with the person 
of Christ, which are not included in the preceding 
enumeration ; such as his miraculous conception, his 
transfiguration, and his resurrection. Voices from 
heaven distinguished his person from other men ; the 
Holy Spirit descended visibly upon him after his bap- 
tism in Jordan ; angels announced his birth to the 
shepherds of Bethlehem, and ministered unto him in the 
wilderness, and in the garden of Gethsemane ; an angel 
rolled the stone from the sepulchre ; and angels first 
announced his resurrection. 

On this record of miraculous works we make the fol- 
lowing observations : — 

I. The account of works deemed miraculous forms so 
large a part of the history, and is so interwoven with the 
rest, that the credibility of the whole must stand or fall 
together. Many of the discourses recorded grow out 
of the miracles, and many of the actions of both friends 

1 Acts, v. 15, 16. 2 Acts, xix. 11, 12. 

15* 



172 MIRACLES. 

and foes are occasioned by them. Above all, if the 
miracle of the resurrection is not true, the preaching 
and faith of Christians, as Paul has decided, are vain, 
and the apostles were false witnesses. 1 But if this one 
miracle be admitted, the admission involves the credi- 
bility of the other miracles. All the arguments which 
establish the truthfulness of the sacred historians, 
decide that the miraculous facts which they record either 
actually occurred, or were believed to have occurred, by 
friends and foes, just as is affirmed or implied in the 
history. The monuments now existing as standing wit- 
nesses confirming the gospel history, have special refer- 
ence to its miracles. The Christian Sabbath commemo- 
rates the resurrection of Christ, and baptism and the 
Lord's Supper imply a belief of it. The inscriptions 
(71 a) on the graves of Christian martyrs, testify their 
belief in the miracles recorded in the gospel, especially 
in that of Christ's resurrection. 

II. The miracles recorded were so numerous and 
various, and the circumstances in which they were 
wrought were so numerous and various, that the suppo- 
sition of imposture or mistake is completely excluded. 
If any one miracle really occurred, it establishes the 
existence of a power by which this miracle was wrought, 
and prepares the way for accrediting all the rest. All 
sorts of objects were brought into subjection to the 
miraculous power : winds, waves, trees, fishes, demons, 
diseases, withered limbs, blind eyes, dead bodies, &c, 
&c. The number of the witnesses in the several cases 
varied greatly. Thousands of persons were fed in the 
wilderness by the miraculous multiplication of the loaves 
and fishes, and could not be mistaken as to the facts 

1 1 Cor. xv. 14, 15. 



OF CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES. 173 

that they saw, handled, and ate the food, and had their 
hunger satisfied. Many persons were present when 
Lazarus and the widow's son at Naih were raised to 
life ; and, if it should be objected that the presence of a 
multitude was less favorable to a careful observation of 
the facts, the daughter of Jairus was raised in the pre- 
sence of a few chosen witnesses. Of those three who 
were restored to life, the circumstances were various. 
One had just died, another was on the way to interment, 
and the third had lain in the grave four days. 

The subjects of the miracles were not chosen by the 
operator, and therefore the suspicion of imposture is 
excluded, as collusion was impossible. The widow's son 
was accidentally met as the body was borne to the 
grave ; the paralytic was brought into the presence of 
Christ by urgent and persevering effort ; Bartimeus and 
the Syro-Phcenician woman obtained the blessings sought 
by earnest importunity ; the woman cured by touching 
the hem of Christ's garment approached him stealthily ; 
and the demoniacs of Gadara met him as he landed on 
their coast. 

III. The miraculous facts were firmly believed by 
friends and admitted by foes. Multitudes testified the 
sincerity of their faith in them by enduring toil, suffer- 
ing, and death ; by the renunciation of worldly interests 
and hopes ; and by patient and steadfast adherence to 
the practice of a holy and self-denying religion. The ene- 
mies who opposed the religion, and persecuted the Master 
and his disciples, did not deny the miraculous facts, but 
attributed them to diabolical influence, or magic ; or, 
without attempting to account for them or disprove 
them, endeavored to suppress the publication of them 
by threats and force. 

IV. The witnesses did not form their judgment 



1T4 MIRACLES. 

hastily, and under the influence of high momentary ex- 
citement ; and were not deceived by a highly wrought 
expectation of tire events. Hesitation and doubt appear 
in the case of Thomas and the disciples, to whom Jesus 
said, " Handle me and see me." There was highly 
excited fear when Jesus was seen walking on the sea ; 
but it was not their fear which induced the belief that 
the object beheld was Jesus ; and that the judgment 
formed was not a mere work of the imagination, Peter's 
walking on the water to meet Jesus fully demonstrates. 
Some of the miracles were solicited and expected, but 
others came unexpected. The effects of most of them 
were permanent, and gave full opportunity for calm and 
repeated examination. Lazarus, when restored to life, 
did not return after a few short moments to the grave, 
but lived, and conversed, and ate with many, and gave 
opportunity to friends and foes to know the reality of 
his resurrection. The man born blind did not see for a 
few moments, and then return to his former blindness ; 
but continued to see, and gave opportunity to the Jews 
to push their inquiries into the fact and manner of the 
wonderful change. 

V. The facts were not only believed to be miracles, 
but were truly so. They did not relate to unusual 
philosophical experiments, developing new laws of nature ; 
but to matters of daily experience among common men, 
and about which common men sufficiently understand 
all the laws of nature to form a correct judgment 
whether the events were natural or supernatural. Laws 
of nature unknown to the ancient Christians, have since 
been discovered, but with all our superior advantages, 
"\fe sit in judgment on the facts, and find no power of 
nature adequate to their production, save that of nature's 
author. They conform to no law which philosophy has 



ATTESTATION GIVEN BY MIRACLES. 175 

ever discovered; and are therefore to be referred to 
special exhibitions of divine power. 

Section IV. Attestation given by these 
Miracles. 

the miracles of the new testament affix the seal 
of omnipotence to christianity, and by confirm- 
ing its divine origin, establish its truth. 

I. Jesus Christ wrought miracles for the express 
purpose of establishing his divine mission and authority. 
When about to heal a paralytic, he explained the design 
with which he performed the miracle : " That ye may 
know that the Son of man hath power on earth to for- 
give sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy) I say unto 
thee, arise, take up thy bed, and go thy way unto thine 
house." 1 He frequently referred to his miracles for 
proof that he came from God, and operated by the 
power of God. 

II. Miraculous powers were conferred by Christ on 
his apostles, for the purpose of confirming their testi- 
mony, and establishing the divine authority of their 
ministry. 2 

III. The apostles appealed to their miracles for proof 
of their mission and apostolic authority. They them- 
selves wrought miracles, and, by the laying on of their 
hands, conferred miraculous powers on others. Paul 
claimed that these signs of an apostle had been exhibited 
by him, and from them he argued the divine authority 
of the gospel which he preached. 3 

IV. Miracles were a suitable attestation of the new 
religion. It had been predicted that the Messiah would 

1 Mark, ii. 10, 11. 2 Mark, xvi. 17. 

3 2 Cor. xii. 12; Heb. ii. 4. 



176 MIRACLES. 

perform miracles, and that they would accompany the 
revelation of gospel times. 1 This fact rendered them 
particularly suitable ; but besides this, there is a general 
suitableness in the proof which they furnish, that the 
power of God is manifested in the works. Miracles are 
a suspension of the laws of nature, and therefore re- 
quire a power superior to these laws, a power which no 
one but the author of nature possesses. The manner 
in which miracles were wrought showed clearly that the 
supernatural power was not exerted accidentally, but 
such words preceded them as fully indicated the design 
of the operator, and his design could have effected 
nothing, if God had not co-operated with him. It is in 
this way precisely that the Scriptures explain the attes- 
tation which miracles gave to the ministry of the apostles. 
" The Lord working with them, and confirming the word 
with signs following." 2 "How shall we escape, if we 
neglect so great salvation ; which at the first began to 
be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by 
them that heard him ; God also bearing them witness 
both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, 
and gifts of the Holy Ghost?" 3 

A miracle affixed a divine attestation to whatever it 
was intended to confirm. In the case of the paralytic 
before referred to, Christ did not work the miracle to 
prove that the sick man's sins were forgiven, but to 
prove that the Son of man had power on earth to for- 
give sins. To this general truth the miracle affixed a 
divine attestation. It was not necessary that every 
word or proposition uttered by Christ and his apostles 
should be accompanied with a separate miracle ; but each 

1 Joel, ii. 28-32; Acts, ii. 17-21. 

2 Mark, xvi. 20. 3 Heb. ii. 3, 4. 



ATTESTATION GIVEN BY MIRACLES. 177 

miracle was made a proof, that the system of doctrine 
which they taught, was from God : and the proof was 
as conclusive for the entire system, as for any particular 
instructions that may have immediately accompanied the 
miracles. 

The persons by whom miracles were wrought, were in 
general good men, having no inclination to use their 
miraculous powers for any unholy purpose ; but in some 
cases God appears to have wrought miracles by unrege- 
nerate men, and to have made them instruments in glory- 
fying him, and advancing his cause. A miracle, by 
whatever instrumentality it was wrought, was always 
God's work ; and the wisdom and holiness of God give 
full assurance, that no miracle can ultimately promote 
falsehood and imposture. If the wicked instruments 
that he may sometimes choose to employ, should desire 
to effect some wicked purpose by miracles, it cannot be 
supposed that God would lend his omnipotence for the 
accomplishment of their design. All his agents are 
completely under his control ; and we may be assured 
that all miracles wrought by unholy agents, will be so 
controlled as ultimately to promote the cause of truth 
and holiness. The miracles wrought by Christ and his 
apostles form a vast mass of evidence in favor of Chris- 
tianity ; and no miracle of Judas, or any other wicked 
agent, has been permitted to operate to its disadvan- 
tage. If Balaam and Judas had invented a system of 
false religion, and if Providence had permitted it to 
come down to us, with attempted confirmation by the 
prophecy of Balaam, and by miracles wrought by Judas, 
and without any controlling evidence against the impos- 
ture, the case would create embarrassment in estimating 
the value of evidence from miracles, but God had these 
wicked men under his control and compelled one of them 



178 MIRACLES. 

to bless Israel, and the other to bear testimony to the 
innocence of Jesus. As the magicians of Egypt 1 
were made to honor Moses ; so false prophets and false 
apostles have been made to honor the true religion ; and 
no system of false religion has ever been able to claim 
the divine attestation of prophecy and miracle. 

The apostles wrought miracles before they understood 
that the gospel had to be preached to the uncircumcised ; 
and Peter wrought miracles before he received the de- 
served rebuke of Paul for dissimulation. The miracu- 
lous power co-existed in them with imperfection of 
knowledge and virtue, and hence the proof from mira- 
cles is not dependent on the knowledge and virtue of the 
agents by whom the miracles were wrought. God is 
able to accomplish his purpose by imperfect instruments ; 
and so to manage these instruments, that their imper- 
fections shall not mar his work. Apostolical imperfection 
has left no imperfection in the teachings of the New 
Testament on the questions whether the gospel should 
be preached to the Gentiles, and whether the dissimu- 
lation of Peter ought to be approved and imitated. 

In estimating the argument from miracles we are 

1 The argument applies to apparent as well as to real mira- 
cles. The feats of the Egyptian magicians, whether performed 
by legerdemain, or by the aid of wicked spirits, were not real 
miracles, since they proceeded from the natural powers of the 
evil agents, and were not works of God. So the serpent's con- 
versation with Eve, and the actions and utterances of the demo- 
niac, were not in the proper sense miracles, and did not even 
claim divine origin ; nor were they pretended or understood to 
be proofs of any divine revelation. Lying wonders may be 
wrought to deceive men, and may succeed in deceiving those who 
have not the love of the truth ; but any one who sincerely de- 
sires to know the truth, may safely confide that God will give 
the means of escape from Satanic delusion. Mark, xiii. 22. 



OLD TESTAMENT MIRACLES. 179 

concerned with the inquiry, Was a miracle wrought? 
and, Was it wrought to confirm a doctrine ? If a miracle 
was wrought God was the author of it, whatever instru- 
mentality he may have chosen to employ : and if it was 
wrought to confirm a doctrine, that doctrine has divine 
authority. The proof is complete that Christian mira- 
cles in great numbers were wrought, and that they were 
wrought to confirm the doctrine which was first taught 
by Jesus Christ, and afterwards by his apostles ; and 
hence this doctrine is from God. Each single miracle 
establishes that God has undertaken the work of giving 
instruction to men, and has chosen to confirm his 
instruction by miracle. What God undertakes to do he 
will certainly accomplish ; and his work is perfect when 
it fulfils his design. The miracles of the gospel lead 
our minds from the human agents through whom the 
gospel was published, to God the author of the system ; 
and give assurance to every inquirer after the divine 
will, that the system is what God designed that it should 
be. The miracles are God's seal affixed to the revela- 
tion, and claiming for it the respect and confidence due 
to divine truth. 

Section V. Old Testament Miracles. 

THE OLD TESTAMENT HAD THE ATTESTATION OF MIRA- 
CLES. 

Moses wrought many miracles in the sight of Pha- 
raoh, and appealed to them for proof that the command 
to let Israel go came from God. The passage through 
the Red Sea, the fire, the voice, and the thundering at 
Sinai ; the descent of manna and quails ; the supply of 
water from the rock, and the passage through Jordan, 

were miraculous events in which omnipotence was dis- 
16 



180 MIRACLES. 

played, and proof given that the God of the Hebrews 
was the true God, and the religion of the Hebrews the 
true religion. Various other miracles were wrought in 
subsequent times, establishing the divine mission of 
prophets v horn God sent to make revelation of his will 
to Israel. All these confirm the divine authority of the 
religion taught in the Old Testament. 

The miracles wrought in Egypt, at the Red Sea, in 
the wilderness, and at the passage of the Jordan, were 
in the presence of many thousands ; and they did not 
consist merely of visual illusions, but the multitudes of 
Israel ate the manna, drank the water from the rock, 
heard the thunders of Sinai, and the voice of God 
speaking from the midst of the fire, and passed alive 
through the Red Sea and Jordan. It was impossible 
that these should be mistaken. And it was equally 
impossible that the record of these miracles should be a 
forgery palmed upon the Hebrew nation at some period 
of time subsequent to that in which the miracles are 
reported to have occurred. The passover was instituted 
on the night in which they left Egypt, and was designed 
to commemorate the deliverance of the first-born from 
the destroying angel. The rite was to be observed 
annually, and parents were required to explain its 
meaning to their children from generation to genera- 
tion. The tables of stone prepared at Sinai were put 
in the ark, and preserved in the nation from the gene- 
ration that had witnessed the wonders of the Mount, 
and heard the sound of Jehovah's voice. The pot of 
manna was put in the ark at the time when the descent 
of manna ceased. Stones taken out of Jordan were, 
immediately after the passage under Joshua, heaped up 
at his command ; and instructions were given that the 
design of the monument should be explained to subse- 



OBJECTION. 181 

quent generations. The existence of all these monu- 
ments from the very date of the events which they 
commemorated excluded the possibility that the record 
of these events should be a forgery of some subsequent 
age ; for such a forgery could never have gained cre- 
dence in any subsequent generation. It could not have 
been palmed upon the people, for they would say we 
have never kept the passover, or heard the explanation of 
it ; never have seen the tables of stone, the pot of manna, 
or the ark said to contain them, and have never seen 
the pile of stones at Gilgal, or heard their meaning 
explained. 

Together with the passover many religious rites were 
instituted for the Israelites by Moses, and laws were given 
to govern them as a nation : and the account of these is 
included in the same record with that of the miracles. 
These were recorded by him in obedience to God's com- 
mand, and the record was left with the people for their 
study and observance. These records have been pre- 
served by them in their several generations down to the 
present time. It is impossible that this record should 
be the work of some forger living after the time of 
Moses. A forged code could not be palmed upon a 
nation as a collection of laws which they had received 
from their ancestors, and which they had been accus- 
tomed to observe as their supreme and only rule. 

Section VI. Objection. 

It has been objected by the opposers of Christianity 
that there are other accounts as credible as those in the 
Bible, of miracles wrought by men who did not operate 
by the power of God. 

This objection, as urged by modern infidels, is directed 



182 MIRACLES. 

against the sufficiency of the testimony on which the 
miracles are believed. As to the works themselves, 
modern infidels believe none of them to have been mira- 
culous. If in the history of pretended miracles they 
can find a case of what they themselves believe to be 
imposture, what is their cause benefited if both they and 
we are unable to explain the imposture ? Whatever 
difficulty may attend the explanation of such a case, 
the abundant and overpowering evidence of the Chris- 
tian miracles is unaffected by it. Let infidels select the 
cases which they suppose most favorable to their cause, 
and compare the evidence of the pretended miracles 
with that on which our belief of the Christian miracles 
rests. The comparison will serve to exhibit in a strong 
light the truth which we receive by contrasting its 
evidence with that on which infidels place their acknow- 
ledged imposture or delusion. (121, 124) 

As urged by the ancient opposers of Christianity, 
this objection had a different meaning and application. 
Celsus, Porphyry, Hierocles, and Julian admitted that 
Jesus had wrought miraculous works ; but they attributed 
them to a magical power which he possessed, and which 
they believed to be possessed by many other persons. 
These ancient objectors, therefore, who lived nearer to the 
source of information, answer the cavils of their modern 
brethren, as to the sufficiency of the testimony on 
which the credibility of gospel miracles rests. Their 
admission proves that the testimony in favor of the 
Christian miracles was complete; and that no counter 
testimony existed. 

The Jews, who were spectators of the miracles, could 
not deny 1 their reality; but attributed them to the 



1 Acts, iv. 16. 



OBJECTION. 183 

power of Beelzebub. 1 Christ's reply to this charge was 
triumphant : — " Every kingdom divided against itself is 
brought to desolation ; and every city or house divided 
against itself shall not stand : and if Satan cast out 
Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his 
kingdom stand?" 2 The benevolence of Christ's mira- 
cles was directly opposed to the malice with which the 
demons tortured the bodies of men, and proved that 
he was not in alliance with them. In like manner his 
miracles differed so widely in character, tendency, and 
end, from all the works attributed to magic, that they 
cannot be classed with magical performances, even if 
these be admitted to be without imposture. But the 
probability is that most if not all of the works attri- 
buted to magic are imposture ; and that Satan is not 
otherwise concerned in them than in the moral influence 
by which he works in the children of disobedience, inclin- 
ing them to deceive for mercenary and wicked purposes. 
Egypt appears to have been famed for the magic, and 
the wonders wrought by the magicians who withstood 
Moses, and deceived Pharaoh to his ruin, were probably 
tricks of legerdemain. But if they were superhuman, 
the end for which they were performed was unholy, 
and proved their evil origin ; and moreover, they were 
controlled by the superior power which wrought with 
Moses. Wicked spirits have been permitted to enter 
swine, to afflict the bodies of men with disease, as 
in the case of the demoniacs whom Jesus relieved, 
and sometimes to harm the person and property of men 
of God, as in the case of Job. But this power has 
always been limited and controlled, and so overruled as 
to result in glory to God. The magicians of Egypt 

1 Matt. xii. 24. 2 Matt. xii. 25, 26. 

16* 



184 MIRACLE S. 

were compelled to acknowledge the superiority of Moses; 
and the demons expelled by Christ were compelled to 
acknowledge his supremacy over them, and their dread 
of his power. The miracles of Christ stand forth in 
their incomparable dignity and grandeur, unlimited and 
uncontrolled by any superior power, fully accomplishing 
the high end for which they were wrought, and worthy 
of the wisdom, power, and holiness of God. 

Section VI I. Mahometanism kot attested 
by Miracles. 

mahometanism has not the attestation of mira- 
cles or any other proof of superhuman origin. 
Of all the false religions which have prevailed in the 
world, no one affords so instructive a comparison with 
Christianity as Mahometanism. Christianity and Ma- 
hometanism agree in having at their origin remarkable 
individuals as their founders, Jesus Christ and Mahomet, 
and these are both characters of real history ; not 
belonging to an uncertain region or a fabulous age ; but 
known in history as definitely, both with respect to place 
and time, as any other individuals whose names appear 
in the records of the past. The two religions agree in 
opposing idolatry and in worshipping the same God, the 
God of the Hebrews. They agree in admitting the 
divine mission of Moses and the divine authority of the 
revelation (125 b, 128 a, 128 b, 149 a) made through 
him to the people of Israel. They agree in maintaining 
that the soul is immortal, that there will be a resurrec- 
tion, and that the righteous will then be received into 
perfect and everlasting felicity, aad the wicked be pun- 
ished with everlasting torments ; and also in maintaining 
the obligation of prayer, alms-giving, and many other 
moral duties. Mahometanism agrees further with Chris- 



MAHOMETAN! SM NOT ATTESTED. 185 

tianity in admitting the divine mission of Jesus Christ 
(125 b, 128 a, 128 b), and the excellence of the doc- 
trine which he taught. But it maintains that Jesus 
Christ was not God or the Son of God (128 c) ; that 
Christians have corrupted his doctrines ; and that, by 
associating Jesus Christ with God as an object of reli- 
gious worship, they have become idolaters. Mahomet 
strenuously maintained the doctrine of God's unity ; and 
claimed that it was his special mission to destroy idolatry 
in Jews, Christians, and Pagans. He held that the 
variety of religious sects had rendered a new revelation 
necessary to determine what was truth amidst the con- 
flict of opinions (139 c, 150). Another point of agree- 
ment between Christianity and Mahometanism is, that, 
though they originated with individual founders who, at 
first, had but few disciples, the systems of religion which 
they introduced have prevailed very extensively, and 
have been adopted by millions of mankind. 

Though agreeing in so many particulars, Christianity 
and Mahometanism differ widely in respect of the evi- 
dence of divine origin. Both claim to be from God ; 
and, with respect to Christianity, we have seen that the 
claim rests on a firm foundation. Mahometanism, on 
the other hand, is totally destitute of any such founda- 
tion ; and it will be instructive, and greatly to the 
advantage of Christianity, to institute a contrast be- 
tween the two religions in this particular. The contrast 
will exhibit the value of the Christian evidences in a 
strong light ; and will offer just occasion for gratitude 
to God, that he has affixed his seal so manifestly and 
fully to the only revelation which he has given to man- 
kind, distinguishing it most clearly from all false revela- 
tions. God has permitted one false religion to arise, 
agreeing with the true religion in so many particulars 



186 MIRACLES. 

as to render comparison possible and convenient, and 
demonstrating by the comparison that one of them is 
from beneath, and the other from above. In this 
arrangement, as in everything pertaining to Christian 
evidences, we see the manifestation of divinity. 

In making revelation to men, God has been pleased 
to confirm his word with miracles. Moses, and many 
prophets who succeeded him, Christ, and all his apostles, 
wrought miracles in proof of their divine mission and 
of the doctrine which they taught : but Mahomet, though 
he admitted the truth of their miracles (128 a, 141 a), 
wrought no miracles himself. His opponents often 
called on him to give this proof of the revelation which 
he pretended to bring from God ; and in many passages 
of the Koran he admits (129, 135, 136, 137 a, 139 a. 
141 a, 142), that he differed from the prophets who had 
preceded him in not performing miracles. The call of 
his opponents for a miracle evidently troubled him, and 
in many passages of the Koran he has attempted to 
account for this deficiency in his revelation ; and all 
these passages are so many proofs that the false prophet 
had not power to work miracles. He pretended to have 
made a miraculous night journey (137) ; but no one 
besides himself had knowledge of it ; and he persuaded 
his followers that a victory which they obtained in the 
Valley Bedr (126 b) was a miracle. We know from 
these facts that he was not averse to confirm his pre- 
tended revelation by miracles if it had been in his 
power. 

If an obscure passage, which mentions a splitting of 
the moon (155), was intended to signify that Mahomet 
wrought a miracle on that luminarv, the statement is at 
variance with his repeated admission that lie did not 
work miracles, and gives room for the suspicion that he 



MAHOMETANISM NOT ATTESTED. 18T 

sought to avail himself of an eclipse or some other 
natural phenomenon to satisfy the incessant demand 
which was made on him for a miracle to confirm his pre- 
tended revelation. 

There was, however, one miracle alleged by Mahomet 
in proof of his doctrines ; and this, fortunately for the 
comparison which we are making, it is in our power to 
examine at the present time. The Koran itself he 
claimed to be a miracle (125 a, 132, 133). He pro- 
fessed to be illiterate (130), and to have no aid (136 b) 
from any man capable of writing such a book. He even 
challenged all men to write such a book, and claimed 
that the pure Arabic of its diction, and the excellence 
of its style, furnished sufficient proof of its divine 
origin. On this last point every reader «f the Koran 
can judge for himself; and the extracts given in the 
appendix may be taken by readers who have not access 
to the book as specimens of its style. It is not neces- 
sary for us to determine whether the work was written 
by Mahomet himself, or by some assistant whom he em- 
ployed. That its style is manifestly superhuman it is 
vain to pretend. No advocate of Christianity alleges 
that the mere style of the Bible is of itself sufficient 
proof of divine origin ; yet it would be easy to show 
that the style of the Bible greatly surpasses that of the 
Koran. Mahomet had access to the Bible, which he 
held to be a divine revelation ; and many of the stories 
given in the Koran as new revelations (134) from God, 
are portions of Bible history with variations. A com- 
parison of these with the originals in the Bible will show 
that the false prophet has not equalled the style which 
he aimed to improve. 

Simplicity and perspicuity are valuable qualities of 
style for which the Bible is distinguished, and which 



188 MIRACLES. 

are not wanting in the Koran : but for the highest quali- 
ties of style we are accustomed to look to the effusions 
of poetic genius. The Bible abounds with the finest 
poetry the world has ever known ; but nothing of the 
sort is found in the Koran. On the contrary, the Koran 
contains Mahomet's acknowledgment that he was not 
endowed with poetic talent. (145) 

The Bible contains a large amount of useful history, 
for -which the world is wholly indebted to the sacred 
volume. The Koran contains very little history except 
what it has taken from the Bible or some apocryphal 
book. Its extracts from the Bible are given with many 
variations, some of which consist of puerile fables added 
(140), and others contradict the true inspired history. 
These contradictions array the authority of the Bible 
against the Koran : and since the Koran admits the 
Bible to have been given by divine revelation, it leaves 
to itself no other ground for defending its own claim to 
divine origin than the very improbable conjecture that 
the Bible history has been greatly corrupted. A very 
important case in which it contradicts the Bible, is its 
denial that Jesus was put to death. (127 e) It dis- 
tinctly affirms that another person was crucified in his 
stead ; and herein contradicts Scripture and tradition 
as to a fact clearly ascertained, and fully and indu- 
bitably testified by both friends and enemies of Chris- 
tianity. According to the Koran God rescued Jesus 
from the power of the Jews by taking him up to him- 
self; that is, according to the most obvious import of 
the language, by miraculously translating him to heaven. 
Unfortunately for the Koran, in this instance, it not 
only contradicts Scripture and tradition, but it also 
contradicts itself. In another passage it introduces the 
infant Jesus miraculously predicting (138) his own 



MAHOMET ANISM NOT ATTESTED. 189 

death and resurrection. Now, that this prediction was 
in due time fulfilled, must be inferred from the admitted 
prophetical character of Christ, and also from the 
miraculous manner in which the prediction was uttered : 
and if the prediction was fulfilled, the statement that 
Jesus did not die is proved by the book itself to be 
false. 

We have seen that the Bible contains an extensive 
system of prophecy which has been fulfilled, or is now 
in progress of fulfilment. Nothing of this sort is found 
in the Koran. Mahomet predicted that his mission 
would be successful (146 a, 147), but in doing this he 
risked nothing, for a failure from any cause would have 
been as fatal to his pretensions without the prediction 
as with it. It is alleged that when on his flight to 
Medina he predicted at Johfa that he would again 
return to Mecca. (141 b) But the chapter which con- 
tains the prediction is headed "Revealed at Mecca." 
If the prophet had already returned to Mecca when the 
prediction was published, the prediction came too late 
to establish the prophet's claim to foreknowledge. If 
the prediction was uttered before he left Mecca, it is 
merely another case in which he expressed such confi- 
dence of ultimate success as any other impostor would 
be likely to exhibit. He foretold that he would die, 
but the manner in which he spoke of this event 
shows that he had no greater foreknowledge respecting 
it than other men. (135 a, 139 b, 148, 149 c, 152) 
Jesus, on the contrary, foretold his death with many 
attendant circumstances, and also his resurrection, with 
important consequences which were to follow. 

About the time of Mahomet's flight to Medina, the 
Eastern or Greek Empire, then powerful, was at war 
with Persia, and suffered defeat in a battle. A predic- 



190 MIRACLES. 

tion said to have been delivered on this occasion is re- 
corded in the Koran (143). * 

To render the passage an example of prophecy seve- 
ral things must be proved, among which are — 1. That 
the event accorded with the prediction ; — 2. That the 
prediction was published before its fulfilment. If both 
these points were made out just as Mahometans would 
wish, the strong probability that the predicted event 
would at some time occur, and the indefiniteness of the 



On this passage the translator of the Koran remarks : — 
" The accomplishment of the prophecy contained in this pas- 
sage, which is very famous among the Mohammedans, being in- 
sisted on by their doctors as a convincing proof that the Koran 
really came down from heaven, it may be excusable to be a little 
particular. 

" The prophecy is said to have been revealed on occasion of 
a great victory obtained by the Persians over the Greeks, the 
news whereof coming to Mecca, the infidels became strangely 
elated, and began to abuse Mohammed and his followers, ima- 
gining that this success of the Persians, who, like themselves, 
were idolaters, and supposed to have no scriptures, and also the 
Christians, who pretended as well as Mohammed to worship one 
God, and to have divine scriptures, was an earnest of their own 
future success against the prophet and those of his religion ; to 
check which vain hopes it was foretold, in the words of the text, 
that how improbable soever it might seem, yet the scale should 
be turned in a few years 5 and the vanquished Greeks prevail as 
remarkably against the Persians. 

'' That this prophecy was exactly fulfilled, the commentators 
fail not to observe, though they do not exactly agree in the ac- 
counts they give of its accomplishment, the number of years 
between the two actions being not precisely determined. Some 
place the victory gained by the Persians in the fifth year before 
the Hegira, and their defeat by the Greeks in the second year 
after it, when the battle of Bedr was fought; others place the 
former in the third or fourth year before the Hegira, and the 
latter in the end of the sixth or beginning of the seventh year 
after it, when the expedition of Al Hodeibiyah was undertaken." 



MAHOMETANISM NOT ATTESTED. 191 

time allowed for its occurrence, "a few years," are im- 
portant considerations in determining the character of 
the supposed prophecy, and fully establish that it pos- 
sesses not the characteristic marks of certain foreknow- 
ledge which are conspicuous in the prophecies of the 
Bible. This single example of prediction would not 
have been estimated so highly by the followers of the 
false prophet, if it had been in their power to adduce 
other and better examples. 

Though the two religions nearly resemble each other 
as to the extent of their progress, as to the means 
employed they are wholly dissimilar. Christianity was 
propagated by preaching, and without the use of carnal 
weapons ; Mahomet frequently claimed to be a preacher 
only (128 d, 135 a, 136 a, 142, 152) ; but so long as 
he relied on preaching only for the establishment of his 
cause, it made very little progress. It was as a mili- 
tary chief that he succeeded ; and those against whom 
he waged war found that the adoption of his religion 
was their best security against his sword and oppressive 
exactions. Christianity, on the contrary, instead of 
giving security for life and property to its converts, 
brought both into imminent danger. The love of life 
and its enjoyments favored the progress of one religion, 
and opposed that of the other ; and since they never- 
theless made similar progress, some cause more pow- 
erful than the love of life and its enjoyments must have 
favored the success of Christianity. No other cause 
than the power of God can account for the wonderful 
effect. 

The doctrine of Mahomet exhibits no internal evi- 
dence of superhuman origin in anything that was pecu- 
liar to his system. In forming his creed he was aided 
by the Bible, and derived from it his best notions of 
17 N 



192 MIRACLES. 

religion and morals. Like modern Unitarians, he held 
that the Christian doctrine concerning the Trinity is 
inconsistent with the unity of God (127/, 128 c) and 
like modern Unitarians, in rejecting the doctrine of the 
Trinity, he rejected that of Christ's mediation and 
atonement. The whole doctrine of sacrifices, so promi- 
nent in the Bible, has no place in the Koran ; and its 
only atonement for sin is good works. (125 /) While 
the false prophet professed to honor the law of Moses, 
he made its whole system of sacrifice unmeaning ; and 
while he professed to honor Jesus as a prophet sent 
from God, he rejected his priesthood and his teachings 
concerning the great salvation effected by his death ; 
and led away his followers from the great propitiation, 
which is the only hope of the guilty and perishing. 
Erring man is ever prone to self-justification ; and hence 
the Bible scheme of justification by grace through the 
redemption of Christ, is manifestly superhuman. But 
the Koran, by preferring man's scheme to that which 
God had devised, and which the gospel had clearly re- 
vealed before the age of Mahomet, is proved to be from 
corrupt man, and not from God. 

While the Koran maintains a system of justification 
by works, its rule for good works was miserably defect- 
ive. The virtue to which the highest felicity of heaven 
was promised, consisted in fighting (125 <r?, 127 d, 
131, 153 a) for the Mahometan faith ; and the zeal 
for shedding blood was stimulated by Uie hope of a sen- 
sual paradise. (146, 151, 153 6) Polygamy and divorce, 
which had been tolerated under the judicial law of Moses, 
the law of Christ had rejected as inconsistent with the 
original institution of marriage : but the Koran more 
(127 a, 127 b, 127 e, 125 e) than re-established the tol- 
eration. It extended the allowance of divorce bevond 



MAHOMETANISM NOT ATTESTED. 193 

the permission given by Moses ; and it not only tole- 
rated polygamy, but recommended (127 a) it as charity to 
the females for whom it provided homes and sustenance. 
Many precepts are given in the Koran for the regula- 
tion of external conduct ; but the law of love to God 
and man, revealed by Moses and explained and enforced 
by Jesus Christ, as the foundation of the law and the 
prophets, is not the basis of the Mahometan code, and 
does not appear to have attracted the attention of its 
author, who was not solicitous to provide for the sancti- 
fication of the heart. The Koran is not a discerner of 
the thoughts and intents of the heart ; and no reader 
of the book feels that it is disclosing a fountain of cor- 
ruption in his inmost soul, and teaching him to abhor 
himself because of his exceeding sinfulness. 

The perfect morality of the Bible was fully exempli- 
fied in the life of Jesus, who did no sin, but was holy, 
harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. Ma- 
homet, not without just cause, confessed himself to be 
a sinner (154 a), needing divine forgiveness. Jesus 
labored publicly and privately for the good of mankind ; 
he never did unkindness to any one, but habitually reliev- 
ed the afflicted and comforted the sorrowful. The benevo- 
lence which he practised he taught his disciples to imi- 
tate ; he reproved them when they asked leave to call 
down fire from heaven on their enemies ; he forbade 
them to use the sword in his defence ; and when Peter 
had rashly inflicted a wound on the high priest's ser- 
vant, he instantly healed the wound by a miracle. In 
administering to others, he endured weariness, hunger, 
and thirst ; but of self-indulgence in any form he was 
guiltless. In all these particulars what a contrast does 
the life of Mahomet exhibit ! Follow him in his public 
career to the field of battle. View him mustering his 



194 MIRACLES. 

hosts, and stimulating them by the hope of spoils (154 b, 
156), and celestial rewards (126 c, 131 a), to cut off the 
heads of unbelievers. He proved that his kingdom was 
of this world, by requiring his servants to fight ; and 
that he was a lover of gain as well as of power, by 
claiming, in the distribution of the spoils which his 
armies won, the right to appropriate whatever part he 
pleased to the use of himself and his kindred. (156) 
From the bloody field follow this pretended prophet of 
God to his private apartments. Enter his harem, and 
count the multitude of his wives. Observe the skill 
with which he controls their love of fine clothes, by a 
gently-expressed threat of divorce. (144 h) Survey 
his establishment ; mark its adaptedness to the wishes 
of a voluptuary; hear him claim, on the plea of a 
special grant from Heaven, a larger provision (144 c) for 
sensual indulgence than was allowed to any of his fol- 
lowers. Notice the careful seclusion of his wives from 
intercourse with the other sex, lest the tranquillity of 
the prophet's mind should be disturbed by painful emo- 
tions of jealousy. (144 a, 144 d, 144 e) All these ar- 
rangements for his undisturbed pleasure were made, as 
the Koran pretends, by the special care of Heaven ; and 
Heaven was not content to give a general grant of car- 
nal indulgence to its favored prophet, but minutely and 
specially provided that he should select (144 d) at 
pleasure from the multitude of his wives the individual 
who should for the time become the companion of his 
chamber. All this was claimed by the Arabian impos- 
tor ; and nothing beyond this can be needed to prove 
that he had not been commissioned by the God of 
holiness. 

We have argued that the religion of the Bible has 
not the marks of human origin. We have supposed 



MAHOMETANISM NOT ATTESTED. 195 

ourselves sufficiently acquainted with mankind to know 
what sort of a religion they would invent : but the 
argument does not rest on probabilities and conjecture. 
Mahometanism is a religion of human invention, the 
best and most successful the world has ever known. 
Our examination of this religion has been far more 
extended than was necessary for the mere purpose of 
proving its imposture ; but in the ordering of Provi- 
dence, this remarkable specimen of human religion has 
been set before us for our instruction, and our careful 
examination of it ought greatly to strengthen our faith 
in Christianity, and excite our gratitude to God for the 
evidences that attend the true revelation with which we 
are blessed. We are disciples, not of an ambitious and 
avaricious voluptuary, but of a holy, self-denying, and 
suffering Redeemer : and while our faith is strengthene 
by the study of his character, and the other evidences 
attending his religion, our contemplation of what he 
has endured for us, especially in his agonies on the 
cross, ought to move our hearts to the highest possible 
exercise of grateful love. 



Our argument for the divine origin of the Bible is 
now made out. "We have proved that the book is a 
superhuman production ; and that its author possesses 
benevolence, holiness, wisdom, foreknowledge, and power 
to control nature : and the book itself contains a direct 
account of just such a being, whom it calls God, and to 
whom it attributes its own origin. Our proof is com- 
plete. When we study the volume of nature, we find 
that it also is a superhuman production ; and that its 
author possesses benevolence, wisdom, and power : but 
this volume contains no direct account of God ; and 
when men, in escaping from the claims of religion, 
17* 



196 MIRACLES. 

retreat to sceptical notions, such as that the world is 
eternal, or that it came by chance, or that it is itself 
God, it is often very difficult to drive them from these 
retreats by the arguments which natural religion sup- 
plies. But we have never yet heard of a sceptic who 
has imagined that the Bible is eternal, or that it came 
by chance, or that it is itself God : and, therefore, the 
existence of the Bible, and the proofs of divine origin 
which attend it, furnish the best cure for scepticism. 



CHAPTER YLLL 
AUTHENTICITY. 



Section I. New Testament. 

THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT NOW IN USE ARE 
THE GENUINE PRODUCTIONS OF THEIR REPUTED AU- 
THORS, AND COME TO US WITH THE SANCTION OF 
APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY. 

Some persons distinguish between authenticity and 
genuineness, 1 but the distinction is of little importance. 
All that both of these terms imply, we attribute to the 
books of the New Testament. They not only have the 
authority of the persons to whom they are ascribed, but 
are their composition. 

The truth of authorship, which is our present subject, 
should be distinguished from the truth of the matter 
contained in the books. The latter is usually called 

1 "A book may be genuine that is not authentic — a book may 
be authentic that is not genuine. The history of Sir Charles 
Grandison, for example, is genuine, being indeed written by 
Richardson, the author whose name it bears ; but it is not 
authentic, being a mere effort of that ingenious writers inven- 
tion in the production of fiction. The account of Lord Anson's 
voyages, again, is an authentic book, the information being 
supplied by Lord Anson himself to the author ; but it is not 
genuine, for the real author was Benjamin Robins, the mathe- 
matician, and not Walters, whose name is appended to it." — 
Gregory's Letters. 

(197) 



198 AUTHENTICITY. 

their credibility, and is sufficiently sustained by the 
agreement of the books with the faith of Christians 
from the first propagation of the religion. The credi- 
bility of the facts recorded in the four Gospels does not 
depend on the proof that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 
John were the authors of the books. The churches 
established and taught by the apostles, by receiving 
these books as faithful histories, became witnesses of 
their agreement with apostolic preaching, and therefore 
of their credibility ; and on their testimony we may 
accredit the books as truthful history, without inquiring 
into their authorship. 

Most of the New Testament books tell by whom they 
were written. All the epistles of Paul, except that to 
the Hebrews, have his express signature. The Gospel 
of John testifies that it was written by the disciple 
whom Jesus loved. 1 In all these cases the authenticity 
of the books is involved in their credibility ; for if all 
the matter which they contain is true, the truth of their 
authorship is established by their own declaration. It 
is apparent, from the use of the pronoun "we," 2 that 
the writer of the Acts of the Apostles was one of Paul's 
companions, and a careful examination of the history 
confirms the tradition that Luke was the person. The 
manifest connection of this book with what the writer 
calls the "former treatise" 3 leaves no room to doubt 
that the Gospel attributed to Luke is really a production 
of the same author. Thus the authorship of almost all 
the books of the New Testament may be made out from 
the volume itself. 

It is clear from the New Testament itself that many 



1 John, xxi. 20, 24. 2 Acts, xxvii. 2, &c. 

3 Acts, i. 1. 



NEW TESTAMENT. 199 

of its books were written and in common use before the 
death of the apostles. We read in the first epistle to 
Timothy, " For the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not 
muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, the 
laborer is worthy of his reward." 1 According to the 
natural interpretation of this language, the phrase 
" The Scripture saith" belongs as much to the last of 
the two quotations as to the first : and no one imagines 
the words capable of any other construction, until he 
has first ascertained that the words " the laborer is 
worthy of his reward" are not in the Old Testament. 
But these words are in the Gospel of Luke, 2 and from 
this fact arises a strong probability, at least, that the 
Gospel of Luke was written before the first epistle to 
Timothy, and was quoted by Paul in this passage, as 
Scripture of equal authority with the Old Testament. 
But if this conclusion be thought doubtful, there can 
be no doubt that Peter has referred to the epistles of 
Paul as extant and in use, and has recognised them as 
Scripture, which unlearned and ignorant men "wrest, 
as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own 
destruction." 3 Such sanction given by the apostles 
determined for the church what books were to be re- 
ceived, and the apostles would have been faithless to 
the commission given them by their divine Master, 
if they had withheld their testimony on this point ; and 
the churches to whom this apostolic testimony was given 
could not readily misunderstand it, or soon forget it. 
John outlived all the other apostles, and he was not at 
rest in the grave before Christians, whose writings have 
come down to us, began to make numerous quotations 

1 1 Tim. v. 18. 
3 Peter, iii. 15, 16. 



200 AUTHENTICITY. 

from the books of the New Testament, and name their 
authors. The number of the Gospels is expressly stated 
by Christian fathers to be four, and various catalogues 
are made out in their writings of all the books in the 
New Testament. 

The authenticity of the sacred books was a subject 
of scrupulous investigation among the first Christians. 
This is manifest from the discussions which they had on 
the subject, and from the hesitation with which a few 
of the books were received. Doubts were entertained 
whether the Epistle to the Hebrews was written by 
Paul ; and the canonical authority of the Epistle of 
James, the second Epistle of Peter, the second and 
third Epistles of John, the Epistle of Jude, and the 
Revelation of John, was questioned by some of the 
Christian writers. The investigation of the subject, 
however, produced a general agreement with respect to 
all the books now received. In this agreement we have 
the greater cause to acquiesce, because the two most 
important of all the books about which doubts were 
ever entertained, contain internal proof of their divine 
origin. The Revelation of John, which was one of the 
last to gain universal credence, proves itself by the ful- 
filment of its prophecies ; and the Epistle to the He- 
brews proves itself, by giving such an explanation of 
the Old Testament economy as brings to view the divine 
wisdom which had been veiled in that mysterious dis- 
pensation. 

Paul wrote the Epistle to the Galatians with his own 
hand, 1 but in writing to the Romans he employed Ter- 
tius as an amanuensis. 2 It was his custom to affix to 
all his epistles written by an amanuensis a salutation 



Gal. vi. 11. 2 Horn. xvi. 22. 



NEW TESTAMENT. 201 

written with his own hand as a token of their authen- 
ticity. 1 In declaring this to be his custom, he indicated 
his desire that the churches should not receive any 
scriptures which had not proper proofs of authenticity ; 
and in adopting the custom he evinced his care that 
proper proofs of authenticity should be in the posses- 
sion of the churches. The other apostles, we cannot 
doubt, were also solicitous on both these points ; and, as 
a necessary consequence, the apostles, whose duty it was 
to provide for the teaching of Christ's doctrine and 
precepts to the end of the world, must have left among 
the churches the proof needed for determining the 
authenticity of all the Scriptures which were to be per- 
petuated as canonical. 

The general desire to obtain and circulate all the 
sacred writings, caused copies of them to be multiplied 
faster than the proofs of their authenticity were ex- 
tended. Hence the scrupulous care which the apostles 
had taught, caused doubt and hesitancy until the proofs 
of authenticity became generally known. No other 
means of collecting the sacred writings were needed 
than the general desire of Christians to possess and 
circulate them : and no other means of establishing* 
their canonical authority were needed, than the proofs 
of their apostolic origin. 

It is implied in the authenticity of the New Testa- 
ment books, that they have the authority of the persons 
by whom they were written. We learn from very an- 
cient testimony, that the Gospel of Mark was written 
from discourses delivered by Peter ; that it received the 
confirmation of the apostle ; and that it was transmitted, 
after the apostle's death, as a perpetuation of his preach- 

1 2 Thes. iii. 17. 



202 AUTHENTICITY. 

ing (22 b, 22 c, 27 a). We learn also that Luke, the 
companion of Paul, wrote with the sanction of that 
apostle (27 a, 27 b) — a sanction which Paul himself has 
committed to record, by quoting the Gospel of Luke as 
Scripture. All the other writers were apostles ; and 
hence the whole volume was written with apostolic 
authority. 

Some apocryphal Christian writings have been noticed 
favorably by a few ancient authors ; but the quotations 
from them are very few, compared with those from the 
canonical Scriptures ; and the respect expressed for 
them differs greatly from that in which the canonical 
Scriptures were held. Whatever may be the excellence 
or reputation of any apocryphal book, it has the defect 
of not having proceeded from the apostles. Of the 
books not included in the New Testament, no genuine 
work that has come down to us, claims to have been 
written by an apostle ; and no authority less than that 
of an apostle, can render a book canonical. 

We receive the Holy Scriptures as a divinely ap- 
pointed rule of faith and practice ; and their divine 
appointment for this purpose, constitutes what is called 
* their canonical authority. The apostles of Christ were 
chosen and commissioned to teach his religion to the 
world ; and his command invests their teaching with 
canonical authority. Hence we are bound to receive as 
canonical, whatever books the apostles delivered to the 
primitive Christians for instruction in the faith and 
duties of religion. 

It was not necessary for the canonical authority of 
any book, that it should come forth with the signature 
of all the apostles. Each apostle, though acting alone, 
possessed the power of working miracles, and, with this 
power as the credentials of his high commission, he 



NEW TESTAMENT. 203 

spoke and wrote in the name and with the authority of 
Christ. But the testimony which the several apostles 
bore to each other's writings, gave them a ready recep- 
tion among Christians everywhere, and procured for 
them at once universal respect and confidence. 

The canonical authority of the New Testament books 
is not dependent on the church. The term church is 
properly used as a collective designation of true Chris- 
tians in all acres and countries. In the first ages, when 
the sincerity of the Christian professors was tested by 
persecution, those who rallied around the standard of 
the cross, were in general true Christians. 

A large body of faithful men, who had received the 
writings of the apostles from the hands of the apostles, 
transmitted them to succeeding generations ; but they 
never claimed, either individually or collectively, the 
power of investing any writing with canonical authority. 
They were witnesses, faithful witnesses, that these books 
had been received from the apostles ; and this their tes- 
timony they were willing to confirm with their blood : 
but they spoke and acted in this matter as witnesses 
merely. Any church or council which claims the power 
of investing scripture with canonical authority, proves 
itself to be antichristian. 

The canonical authority of the New Testament books 
is not dependent on the entireness of the volume. If 
some books written by the apostles have been lost, the 
loss of these does not impair the authority of those that 
remain ; and if any book in the volume could be proved 
to be spurious, the authority of the rest would be un- 
disturbed. 

The collection of the books into one volume is not an 
apostolic work, and has nothing to do with the apostolic 
18 



204 AUTHENTICITY. 

authority that each book possesses, and has possessed 
from the time that it emanated from the apostles. 

The proof that the several books of the New Testa- 
ment possess canonical authority, may be briefly ex- 
hibited thus : — 

1. Christ commissioned his apostles to teach his re- 
ligion to the world ; and they failed to execute the 
commission, if they did not adopt the means necessary 
for transmitting his doctrine uncorrupt to future gen- 
erations. 

2. History renders it indubitable, that, while the 
apostles were living, and exercising care over the 
churches, numerous writings were circulated as authen- 
tic documents of the religion, and the Christians were 
taught to respect them as canonical scripture. 

3. The true friends of Christianity, its false friends, and 
its foes, concurred in forming a chain of testimony, 
extending from the ministry of the apostles down 
through succeeding ages, and giving proof, without a 
dissenting voice, that, among the books circulated as 
canonical under the apostolic ministry, twenty of our 
present New Testament books were included. 

4. All the other seven books except the Epistle to the 
Hebrews, claim to have been written by apostles, 1 and 
therefore all that is necessary to establish their canoni- 
cal authority, is, to prove that they are not spurious. 

After some of the apostles had suffered martyrdom it 
is not surprising that the writings of those who sur- 
vived, should meet with some difficulty in obtaining 
reception in some parts of the Christian community. 

1 The second and third epistles of John, like the first, do 
not contain the name of their author. He styles himself, not 
an elder, but the elder, a title which appropriately designated 
the apostle John at his very advanced age. 



OLD TESTAMENT. 205 

They who had received other canonical scriptures from 
the hand of an apostle, would be slow to admit to equal 
respect new works which did not come to them with the 
personal recommendation of an apostle. Hence a pru- 
dent caution in receiving the new works was naturally 
engendered. 

This led to investigations which fully established to 
the ultimate satisfaction of the whole Christian body, 
the genuineness and canonical authority of all the 
books. 

5. The propriety of receiving the seven doubted 
books into full confidence, is greatly confirmed by the 
fact that the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the book of 
Revelation, which were the chief subjects of doubt, are 
found to contain internal evidence of their divine origin. 

Section II. Old Testament. 

THE HEBREW BIBLE NOW IN USE IS THE AUTHENTIC 
SACRED BOOK OE THE HEBREW NATION, AND HAS RE- 
CEIVED THE SANCTION OF CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES. 

We have very little means for determining the author- 
ship of the several books which make up the Old Testa- 
ment, beyond what the volume itself furnishes. But 
we know that the volume as a whole has been held 
sacred by the nation, that it received the sanction of 
Christ and his apostles, and that it has been preserved 
as a sacred book by both Jews and Christians down to 
our time. We know from the volume itself, and also 
from the New Testament, that Moses wrote the chief 
part of the first five books called the Pentateuch. But 
since the latter part of Deuteronomy contains an 
account of Moses' death written by some other hand, 
it appears that what Moses wrote was considered the 



206 AUTHENTIC? T Y. 

sacred record of the nation, and treated according!} 7 . 
By whom this record was extended from time to time, 
we have no certain means of knowing. Prophets were 
sent to the people, bearing with them credentials of 
their divine mission in the miraculous and prophetical 
gifts with which they were endowed. Rules were given 
in the law for testing their claim to the prophetical cha- 
racter. 1 The great council of the nation appears to 
have been invested with some power to sit in judgment 
on such claims. Either by the decision of this council, 
or by the general consent of the people, the prophetical 
character was determined of those whose writings were 
incorporated into the sacred code. The nation which 
persecuted the prophets while living, revered their 
memory when dead, and treasured up their writings as 
sacred. Thus Providence ordered the enlargement and 
preservation of the sacred volume ; and, though Christ 
charged the Jews with killing the prophets, and with 
making void the law through their traditions, he never 
charged them with destroying, mutilating, or corrupting 
the Scriptures. By a similar ordering of Providence, the 
Scriptures of the New Testament come down to us pure, 
through all the corruption of the papacy. 

From what has been said, it seems best to contem- 
plate the authenticity of the Old Testament as appertain- 
ing to the entire volume. We receive it from the nation 
to which, as an appointed guardian, it was committed, 
and which, however faithless in other particulars, has 
kept this trust without censure. 

Section III. Preservation. 
In establishing the authenticity of the Scriptures, it 



1 Dent. xiii. 1-5 ; xviii. 20- 



PRESERVATION. 207 

is necessary to prove that the several books now form- 
ing the sacred volume, are true copies of the works as 
originally written or dictated by the authors to whom 
they are ascribed. We have not the autographs with 
which to compare them ; but nevertheless it may be 
satisfactorily proved that our present books are true 
copies of these autographs. 

The Jews have always been exceedingly careful to 
preserve the Hebrew scriptures from errors in transcrib- 
ing : and the purity of the copies which were read in 
the synagogues every sabbath-day in the time of Christ, 
is proved by his use of them, and his sanction of their 
divine authority. He never charged the Jews with 
having mutilated the oracles of God, either through de- 
sign or negligence ; and when he declared that the 
Scripture cannot be broken, 1 and that not one jot or 
tittle can pass away, 2 he made no exception of corrupt 
readings ; but gave his sanction to the volume just as it 
was. Since the time of Christ both Jews and Christians 
have preserved the scriptures of the Old Testament 
with care. The Jews have preserved the very passages 
which prove the Messiahship of Jesus, and condemn 
their rejection of him ; and which explain the calami- 
ties that have fallen on their nation, as the penalty in- 
flicted for their sins, in violating the covenant of their 
God. Since these passages have been preserved pure, 
we may safely conclude that the rest are uncorrupt. 
The Jews persecuted the Christians of early times ; and 
professed Christians of modern times have persecuted 
the Jews : but both parties have preserved the same 
sacred book ; and their united testimony leaves no room 
for any rational doubt, that the book which they have 



1 John, x. 35. 2 Matt. v. 1! 

18* 



208 AUTHENTICITY. 

handed down to us, is the same that was read in the 
days of Christ and his apostles. We want no other 
proof that the scriptures of the Old Testament now in 
use are authentic. 

The books of the New Testament were preserved by 
an early multiplication of copies. The first Christians 
w T ere zealous on this point. The introduction of Luke's 
Gospel 1 shows their early anxiety to have the facts and 
doctrines of their religion committed to writing. The 
epistles of Paul were in use even by unlearned and unstable 
men, before Peter's second epistle was written. From 
the early ecclesiastical writers, w T e know that evangelists 
circulated the scriptures, and that copies of them were 
numerous. Of no other books were copies so multiplied, 
and of no other have so many ancient copies come down 
to our times. Some works of ancient authors are pre- 
served in only a single manuscript, but more than a 
thousand manuscript copies of the New Testament are 
known to exist. 

Great care has been taken to keep the text of the 
New Testament pure. Modern critics bestow great 
labor on the collation of manuscripts, with a view to 
discover every variation of reading, however slight ; 
and also to determine, where various readings are dis- 
covered, which of them are to be accounted genuine. 
Nor w T as this useful labor unknown to the ancients. Je- 
rome, A. D. 392, informs us that he made a collation of 
manuscripts to determine the true reading of the four 
Gospels, and says expressly that the manuscripts which 
he used were " ancient." (42 a, b) An ancient manu- 
script in the days of Jerome must have come down from 
very near the time of the apostles. Tertullian states 

1 Luke, i. 1. 



PRESERVATION. 209 

that in his day, A. D. 200, the authentic letters (31 a) 
of Paul were in the churches to which they had been 
addressed. If this does not mean that the original 
autographs were there, it must mean that copies were 
there, which were worthy of entire confidence as accu- 
rate transcripts of the originals. These testimonies show 
the care with which the sacred text was preserved. 

The numerous quotations of scripture in the writings 
of the Christian fathers, prove that the books which 
they used were identical with ours. These quotations 
run back to the very time of the apostles. In the small 
works of Barnabas, Clement, Hermas, Ignatius, and 
Polycarp, all of whom conversed with the apostles, 192 
passages of our scriptures' are quoted or alluded to. In 
the writers who succeeded them, the quotations and 
allusions are very numerous. We have proof, therefore, 
that the same books that Christians used from the time 
of the apostles are now in our hands. And these quo- 
tations not only prove the identity of the books, but 
they also accomplish much in establishing the purity of 
our present text. The agreement of the passages quoted 
with our present text, proves that it remains what it was 
in the days of the several writers : and the passages 
taken collectively form so large a part of the New Testa- 
ment, that their purity substantially determines the 
purity of the whole volume. 

Various translations of the New Testament have been 
made from the Greek into other languages ; and some of 
them are of so ancient date, as to be highly valuable in 
establishing the purity of our Greek text. They show 
the state of the text when the translations were made, 
and are like manuscripts preserved from those times. 

As early as a. d. 200 (32), catalogues of the New 
Testament books began to be made. Several of these 



210 AUTHENTICITY. 

catalogues have come down to us, agreeing nearly or 
exactly with our present canon. That the books which 
they enumerate were the same as ours, is proved by the 
quotations from them which are extant, and by early 
manuscripts and versions, and by the additional fact 
that in no case has a complaint been heard of fraud, in 
substituting a fictitious for the authentic work. 

These various proofs establish the authenticity of the 
New Testament books now in use. No one hesitates to 
receive the books generally ascribed to Cicero, Seneca, 
Virgil, and Horace, as the genuine productions of these 
authors ; but the proofs of authenticity in the case of 
these works, are very far inferior to those which attend 
the books of the New Testament : and for determining 
the purity of the text in these works, the means are 
very far inferior to those which are possessed by the 
critics of the New Testament. 

The extensive lists of various readings made out by 
critics of the New Testament, show the great pains 
taken, and the abundant means possessed, for determin- 
ing the genuine text. No other work has been subjected 
to such scrutiny. Yet, though the various readings dis- 
covered are many, the cases are few in which any 
reasonable doubt remains, on the question which reading 
preserves the genuine text ; and the cases are still fewer 
in which any important doctrine is affected by a doubt- 
ful reading. No man who honestly desires to know 
what Christianity is, can be in any danger of being 
misled, even by the least approved of the Greek manu- 
scripts of the New Testament which have been subjected 
to criticism. 

God has by a careful providence guarded his word 
sufficiently for all practical purposes, if men are willing 
to study it with the helps which he gives them : but he 



> PRESERVATION. 211 

has not chosen to work a perpetual miracle, in order to 
preserve copies of it free from all possible errors of 
transcribers and printers, merely to satisfy the demands 
of an unreasonable incredulity. 



CHAPTER IX. 
INSPIRATION. 

THE HEBREW OLD TESTAMENT AND THE GREEK NEW 
TESTAMENT WERE GIVEN BY DIVINE INSPIRATION, AND 
ARE TO BE RECEIVED AS THE WORD OF GOD. 



Section I. Plenary Inspiration. 

In the preceding chapters it has been proved that the 
books of the New Testament were written by truthful 
men, and contain a faithful account of Christ and the 
doctrines which he taught. In the present chapter 
we are to investigate the claim of these writings, and those 
of the Old Testament, to divine authority. Are these 
books to be received by us as if immediately written by 
the finger of God ? 

It has been fully established that Jesus Christ exhi- 
bited satisfactory credentials of a mission from God to 
institute a religion for the benefit of mankind. Of his 
character and ministry the New Testament gives us an 
account, written by men who had the most favorable 
opportunities for knowing his history and doctrines, and 
who have left us their written testimony honestly given 
to the best of their knowledge and belief. The excel- 
lence of Christianity, its adaptedness to the general 
wants of men, and the evidences of its divine origin, make 
it obligatory on us to treat any credible account of it 
with respect, and derive from it all possible advantage 
towards attaining a knowledge of the religion. The 

(212) 



PLENARY INSPIRATION. 213 

New Testament professes to give full and exact informa- 
tion on the subject ; and it is not only the best source 
of information, but the only original source on which 
we can rely. The writers of this book had devoted 
their lives to the study, practice, and dissemination of 
the new religion. Their conduct, their principles, their 
passions, had all been subjected to its rule. No teacher 
of philosophy or science was ever so devoted to his 
favorite pursuit. Nor were they unsuccessful instruct- 
ors : but they taught their religion to hundreds of 
thousands who became proficient in the knowledge of 
the system, and gave practical demonstration of their 
attainments, and of its excellence. Now a written 
account of the system, prepared by these well-informed 
and successful teachers, and transmitted to us in a form 
well adapted to our use, is entitled to our respect, and 
ought to be highly prized by us. We should thankfully 
receive it as a benefit which Providence has kindly 
thrown in our way ; and in consideration of the proof 
that the religion had a divine origin, we should feel our 
conscience bound to profit by all the information respect- 
ing it which Providence brings within our reach. In 
this view the New Testament, if regarded merely as a 
human composition, ought to bind our conscience ; but 
as everything merely human is necessarily imperfect, 
it will add much to the confidence with which we bring 
our consciences to the rule of Scripture, if we can ascer- 
tain that the sacred writers were divinely inspired, and 
that what they have written may be received by us as 
the word of God, and used as an infallible guide in 
faith and practice. 

Having ascertained that the Scriptures of the New 
Testament are worthy of our respect and confidence, 
as giving in general a faithful and true account 



21-4 INSPIRATION. 

of the Christian doctrine, we may safely proceed to 
inquire what they teach on the question of plenary 
inspiration. 

Section II. Old Testament. 

The books of the Old Testament extant in Hebrew in 
the time of Christ, constituted the sacred canon of the 
Jews, publicly read in the synagogues. To it Christ 
and his apostles often appealed, as a rule of divine 
authority. Christ commanded to search the Scriptures * 
with a view to learn and receive their testimony as 
indisputable truth. He charged the Jews with error, 
" not knowing the Scriptures." 2 He taught that what 
the Scriptures had said must be accomplished, 3 and, that 
" the Scriptures cannot be broken." 4 And he accounted 
words recorded by Moses in the Pentateuch to be 
standing declarations of God to the people. 5 The 
apostles in like manner ascribe to the Holy Spirit words 
which were written by David, 6 and Isaiah. 7 Though 
they preached the gospel under the influence of the 
Holy Spirit, they never claimed higher respect for their 
words than was due to the Scriptures of the Old Testa- 
ment, but commended the Jews of Berea for testing 
their teaching by that infallible rule. 8 The prophecies 
committed to writing, as well as those orally delivered, 
are declared by the apostle Peter to have proceeded 
from the Holy Ghost. 9 Paul, in writing to the Hebrews, 

1 John, v. 39. 2 Matt. xxii. 29. 

3 Matt. v. 18 ; Luke, xxi. 22 ; xxiv. 44. 

4 John, x. 35. 5 Matt. xxii. 31, 32. 

6 Heb. iv. 7 ; Heb. iii. 7 ; Acts, ii. 30, 31 ; xiii. 32-37. 

7 Acts, xxviii. 25. 8 Acts, xvii. 11. 
9 2 Peter, i. 20, 21. 



MEW TESTAMENT. 215 

after saying that God had spoken to the fathers by the 
prophets, refers to the instructions which they gave as 
contained in the Scriptures, and so complete does he 
regard the written rule, that he institutes an argument 
on its silence, " to which of the angels said he at any 
time, &C." 1 In another epistle he declares, that the 
Scriptures in which Timothy had been instructed from 
his youth, are able to make wise unto salvation, 2 and 
expressly affirms that they had been given by inspira- 
tion from God. 3 

It is not necessary to assume the inspiration of the 
New Testament in order to render the above-cited pas- 
sages decisive proof that Christ and his apostles 
accounted the Old Testament divinely inspired. As 
honest men merely, the apostles could not express other 
opinions on this subject than those which they really 
entertained ; and on this point the supposition is inad- 
missible that they could have misunderstood or for- 
gotten the doctrine of their master. 

Section III. New Testament. 

The following arguments prove the plenary inspira- 
tion of the New Testament. 

I. The revelation of the present dispensation is not 
less clear and certain than that of the former. 

The Old Testament predicted that the new dispensa- 
tion would be one of superior light, in which the know- 
ledge of the Lord would cover the earth. 4 Messiah was 
to be a prophet, like unto Moses, to whom the people 
were to hearken, 5 and he was to be a light unto the 
Gentiles. 6 It was foretold that extraordinary influences 

1 Heb. i. 13. 2 2 Tim. iii. 15. 

s 2 Tim. iii. 16. * Isaiah, xi. 9. 

5 Deut. xviii. 15. 6 Isaiah, xlii. 6 ; xlix. 6. 
10 



21G INSPIRATION. 

of the Spirit should be poured out, causing sons and 
daughters to prophesy. 1 John the Baptist exceeded all 
the prophets who preceded him ; but so superior is the 
revelation of the new dispensation, that the least of 
those who enjoy it is superior in spiritual knowledge to 
John. 2 But whatever may have been the superiority of 
the New Testament revelation at its outset, it could 
not have equalled that of the Old Testament in perma- 
nent advantage, if it had not been committed to writing 
without human error. If the New Testament is not a 
work of plenary inspiration, we have now less ground 
for confidence in what we have learned through Christ 
than in what we have learned through Moses. 

II. The authority given by Christ to his apostles ren- 
dered plenary inspiration necessary to their office. 

It was made the duty of the apostles to preach the 
gospel, and teach the observance of all things that 
Christ had commanded them ; and the salvation of 
every creature who should hear them, was made depend- 
ent on his belief of their word. They were to deter- 
mine whose sins should be remitted and retained, and 
what things should be binding on the consciences of 
men. Such was the authority with which their ministry 
was invested ; and it therefore became the duty of all 
men to receive their word as the word of God. The 
promise which accompanied the commission, " Lo, I am 
with you always, even unto the end of the world," 3 im- 
plies the perpetual force of the commission, and the 
obligation of men in all generations to receive the word 
of the apostles ; and this obligation must now have re- 
spect to their written word, since their oral ministrations 
have forever ceased. 

1 Joel, ii. 28, 29. 
3 Matt, xxviii. 20. 



NEW TESTAMENT. 217 

III. The apostles were under an extraordinary influ- 
ence of the Holy Spirit guiding them into all truth. 

Christ promised to his apostles that he would send the 
Holy Spirit to abide with them, 1 guide them into all 
truth, 2 and bring to their remembrance all things 
that he had taught. 3 This was precisely what they 
needed to qualify them to teach his doctrines and pre- 
cepts with infallible certainty. And from the day of 
Pentecost, when the miraculous endowments came upon 
them, they became truly changed men. The cowardice 
which induced them to flee when their master was appre- 
hended is now gone ; and they boldly preach his gospel, 
fearless of danger. With new tongues they address 
the astonished multitudes ; and with new skill quote 
and apply the Scriptures. They proclaim authorita- 
tively on what terms sins shall be remitted, and they 
authoritatively direct the converts in their course of 
duty. These walked in the doctrines of the apostles 
with a full conviction that in so doing they were obeying 
God. 

Less regard cannot now be due from us to the doc- 
trine which we have received from the apostles in writ- 

1 John, xiv. 16. 2 John, xvi. 13. 

3 John, xiv. 26. It has been objected, that what Paul said 
•when arraigned before Ananias (Acts, xxiii. 3) could not have 
proceeded from the Holy Spirit, since the apostle afterwards 
retracted it ; and, therefore, that the promise of the Holy 
Spirit's infallible guidance, as recorded in Mark xiii. 11, was 
not fulfilled. But this objection is founded on a mistake of 
fact. The prophetic denunciation uttered against the wicked 
claimant of the high priesthood was not retracted : but was 
without doubt approved by God, and in due time executed. If 
any knowledge not possessed by the apostle would have pre- 
vented the utterance, that knowledge was providentially with- 
held. 



218 INSPIRATION. 

ing. The spirit which was given to abide with them 
did not desert them when they sat down to write, but a 
perfect remembrance of their master's teaching was not 
less needed or useful when they committed his doc- 
trines and precepts to writing for the use of distant 
unborn generations, than when they were engaged in 
preaching his word. 

IV. The apostles claimed that their preaching and 
writings were with plenary inspiration and divine 
authority. 

In the first writing which the apostles sent forth, 
they said, " It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to 
us ;" 1 and they sent forth the decree with divine author- 
ity for the observance of all Christians. Paul affirmed 
that the preaching of himself and other ministers was 
in demonstration of the spirit, 2 " not in the words which 
man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost 
teacheth," 3 and that what he preached was the testimony 
of God. 4 He pronounced an anathema on any who 
should preach any other gospel than that which he had 
preached, 5 and he commended those who had received 
it, not as the word of man, but, as it is, in truth, the 
w T ord of God. 6 His epistles did not teach a different 
gospel, but were sent to confirm the faith, correct the 
errors, and enlarge the spiritual knowledge of those to 
whom they were addressed ; and he claimed as much 
respect for the gospel which he committed to writing as 
for that which he delivered orally. He expected what 
he wrote to be acknowledged by those who were en- 
dowed with spiritual discernment as " the command- 
ments of the Lord." 7 

1 Acts, xv. 28. 2 1 Cor. ii. 4. 

3 Cor. ii. 13. * 1 Cor. ii. 1. 

5 Gal. i. 8. 6 1 Thes. ii. 13. 
7 1 Cor. xiv. 37. 



N E W TEST A M E N T. 219 

At the close of the Epistle to the Romans a remark- 
able passage is introduced, affirming the inspiration and 
divine authority of the New Testament hooks ; but its 
meaning is obscured by a faulty translation of the 
phrase, "the Scriptures of the prophets." In this 
phrase, as thus translated, the definite article occurs 
twice, though it is not found at all in the Greek original. 
The proper sense would be correctly expressed by the 
simple rendering, inspired writings. The entire passage 
teaches the following particulars : — 1. At the age in 
which Paul lived, a new and greatly enlarged revelation 
was made to mankind. " According to the revelation 
of the mystery which was kept secret since the world 
began, but is now made manifest." — 2. This revelation 
was in part made orally. " According to my gospel, 
and the preaching of Jesus Christ." — 3. It was in part 
made in writing. " And by inspired writings made 
known to all nations for the obedience of faith." The 
scope of the passage shows that the writings here re- 
ferred to are not the books left in the charge of the 
Hebrew nation by the ancient prophets ; but writings 
which formed a part of the revelation made in the time 
of Paul, and published to all nations. — 4. This revela- 
tion was made by divine authority, and was designed to 
be a rule of faith ; " But now is made manifest, and by 
inspired writings, according to the commandment of the 
everlasting God, made known to all nations for the 
obedience of faith." 

No man on earth understood the Christian doctrine 
concerning inspiration, better than the author of this 
passage. He was an apostle of Christ, specially com- 
missioned to carry this revelation to the various nations 
of the Gentiles ; and he was himself the writer of many 
of the New Testament books. It cannot be that he 
19* 



220 INSPIRATION. 

did not know whether these writings possess such au- 
thority to bind the consciences of men, that not to 
receive them in faith is disobedience to God. What 
Paul calls "my gospel," consisted of his preaching and 
writings taken together. He had received a special 
"commandment of the everlasting God," to teach the 
gospel to the Gentiles ; and the Epistle to the Romans 
was a compendium of the gospel, sent by him to the 
metropolis of the gentile world. How suitable it is that 
in the close of the Epistle he has left a plain statement 
of the claim which it, in common with the other books 
of the New Testament, makes on the faith of mankind ! 
Verily God's book comes to us clothed with the full 
authority of God. 

V. The writings of the New Testament are quoted 
and referred to by the apostles as possessing equal 
authority with those of the Old Testament. 

Paul quotes 1 two passages as Scripture, one from 
Deuteronomy, 2 and the other from the Gospel of Luke. 3 
Peter reckons the epistles of Paul as a part of the 
Scriptures which men abuse to their own destruction. 4 
Peter, when he wrote his second epistle, and Paul, 
when he wrote his second to Timothy, had their decease 
in near prospect. 5 They evinced much solicitude for 
those whom they were about to leave behind them, and 
earnestly recommended the Scriptures as a divinely 
inspired rule, 6 an unerring light to guide. 7 These com- 
mendations of the Scriptures doubtless apply to those 
of the Old Testament, but there is reason to believe 
that they were designed to apply equally to those of 

1 1 Tim. v. 18. 2 Deut. xxv. 4. 

3 Luke, x. 7. * 2 Pet, iii. 15, 16. 

5 2 Tim. iv. 6 ; 2 Pet. i. 15. 6 2 Tim. iii. 16. 
7 2 Pet. i. 19. 



NEW TESTA M E N T. 221 

the New Testament. Paul had quoted to Timothy the 
Gospel of Luke as Scripture, and he speaks of faith in 
Christ Jesus 1 in connection with the Scriptures, which 
he says are " able to make wise unto salvation, and are 
profitable to make the man of God perfect, thoroughly 
furnished unto every good work." Since Peter, in the 
same epistle in which he recommends the prophetic 
revelation of Scripture as a guide, has associated the 
epistles of Paul with the other Scriptures, we have 
reason to conclude that he esteemed these also as an 
unerring guide. "When these two apostles wrote these 
passages, almost the whole of the New Testament was 
written, and these passages may be taken as apostolic 
cofifirmation of the inspiration and authority of all the 
parts of it which were then in use. ■ 

John, who outlived all the other apostles, and wrote 
the last book of the Bible, has affixed to it a solemn 
sanction which, if inspiration is homogeneous through- 
out the sacred volume, may be considered to apply 
equally to all the other books. " If any man shall add 
unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues 
that are written in this book : And if any man shall 
take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, 
God shall take away his part out of the book of life, 
and out of the holy city, and from the things which are 
written in this book." 2 

VI. The fulfilment of prophecy demonstrates the 
plenary inspiration of the Bible. 

This argument applies to the Old Testament as well 
as to the New. In both, prophecies are recorded which 
have been fulfilled, and therefore the predictions were 
divinely inspired. Many of these predictions were not 

1 2 Tim. iii. 15. * Rev. xxii. 18, 19. 



222 INSPIRATION. 

understood by the prophets who delivered or recorded 
them ; and therefore thej must have proceeded wholly 
from the Spirit which dictated them. 

Section IV. Mode of Inspiration. 

How the Holy Spirit operated on the minds of the 
sacred writers we are unable to explain. It is enough 
for us that God acknowledges what they have written 
to be his word. When he employed the tongues of the 
apostles to preach, they spoke in human language, and 
each with the voice peculiar to himself. Even the gift 
of tongues did not destroy the peculiarity of voice be- 
longing to each, or set aside as useless the muscular 
power by which the tongue was moved. So the menial 
powers of the sacred writers were not set aside, but the 
divine wisdom has used them, and all the peculiarities 
of style, and modes of thoughts, that distinguished the 
several writers, and has by means of them prepared just 
such a book as it was his pleasure to give to mankind. 

Section V. Objections to Plenary In- 
spiration. 

It is objected that the word inspiration does not 
necessarily imply the communication of infallibility. 
We admit the objection, but we maintain that whatever 
God gives by inspiration is what he intended that it 
should be. Life was given to man by inspiration, for it 
is said, " God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 
and man became a living soul." l Understanding is given 
by inspiration, for it is said, " There is a spirit in man, 
and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them under- 
standing." 2 Life and understanding are what God in- 



1 Gen. ii. 7. 2 Job, xxxii. 8. 



OBJECTIONS. 223 

tended that they should be. Both these were possessed 
by the apostles, before Jesus breathed on them, and said, 
" Receive ye the Holy Ghost," and before he said to them, 
" Tarry ye in Jerusalem until ye be endued with power 
from on high." They were coinmis'sioned to preach the 
gospel to the world, and to teach the observance of all 
things that Christ had commanded ; and the new and 
peculiar inspiration given to them, was designed to qualify 
them for this work. We may, therefore, conclude that 
the Scriptures which they have, in pursuance of their 
commission, left for the instruction of mankind, and which 
were given by divine inspiration for "instruction in 
righteousness," are what God intended that they 
should be. 

It is objected that there is a human as well as a divine 
element in inspiration, and that, as the divine element 
must be perfect, so the human element must be imper- 
fect. Our reply to this is, that inspiration is not in the 
proper sense a compound consisting of two distinct ele- 
ments. God and man were both concerned in making 
revelation to the world ; but their relation to each other 
was not that of partners. The design was God's, and 
the contrivance of the method was God's ; and man had 
no partnership in either. When man was introduced 
into the work, it was not as a partner, but as an instru- 
ment ; and the whole work was done with human instru- 
mentality. If all with which man was concerned, is 
man's part, there is no other part left for God. We 
cannot say of a manuscript, that this portion is the 
author's part, and that portion the pen's ; and, though 
the instrumentality of man in the work of revelation is 
different from that of an unconscious pen, it is neverthe- 
less instrumentality. The whole of revelation is the 
work of God as the author ; the whole is the work of 



224 INSPIRATION. 

man as the instrument ; and the whole has this perfec- 
tion, that it exactly fulfils the design of him who 
designed it. 

It is objected that inspiration is positive, not negative, 
imparting truth to the minds of the inspired, without 
banishing their errors ; and that, in this particular, it is 
like the ordinary influences of the Spirit, which have a 
sanctifying effect on the believer without annihilating 
his depravity. It is a fundamental error in this objec- 
tion, that it contemplates inspiration as designed merely 
for the benefit of the inspired : whereas it is clear that 
God gave his word to be spoken and written by prophets 
and apostles for the instruction and benefit of other men, 
who were required to receive it, not as the word of man, 
but as in truth the word of God, attested by miracles. 
Positively, it is divine truth ; negatively, it is not hu- 
man error. 

Infidels allege that the Bible contains mistakes in 
history and science, and that some parts of it are incon- 
sistent with others ; and on these allegations they found 
their most successful arguments against the credibility 
of the book. The chief of these alleged mistakes and 
inconsistencies are examined in other parts of this 
volume, especially in the next chapter, and in Chapters 
I. and YI. of the Appendix. The result of the investi- 
gation will be found to be a great abatement, if not a 
complete removal of the difficulties ; and it will be seen 
that the remaining difficulties, whatever may be their 
magnitude, do not reach the vital question concerning 
the divine origin of Christianity, but lie merely as ob- 
jections against the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures. 
If there are imperfections in the Bible, it has in spite 
of them conferred such blessings on mankind as must 
have had their source in divine benevolence. If it con- 



OBJECTIONS. 225 

tains mistakes and inconsistencies, it also contains sys- 
tems of morality, doctrines, and prophecy, which must 
have proceeded from superhuman wisdom. And if there 
is in it an element of human weakness, it contains also 
a truthful record of miracles which must have been 
wrought by the power of God, and which were wrought 
in attestation of the religion that the book teaches. 
Hence the proper evidences of Christianity are not af- 
fected by the alleged imperfection of the sacred record. 
Regarding the difficulties from this class of infidel 
objections, as relating properly to the doctrine of plenary 
inspiration, the present becomes the proper place for 
considering them ; and it will be proper to inquire how 
are these difficulties to be disposed of, and what is our 
duty respecting them. On this subject the following 
observations are offered : — 

1. The' investigation which has been made of the 
alleged facts, not only lessens very greatly the diffi- 
culties with which they were thought to embarrass the 
doctrine of plenary inspiration, but in some cases it 
furnishes proof of the minute accuracy and truthful- 
ness of the inspired record. It is our duty to prosecute 
such investigations as we have opportunity, and we have 
reason to expect that these investigations will continue 
to lessen the difficulties of the subject, and present the 
divine authority of the entire Bible in a clear light. 

2. The difficulties which past investigations have not 
already removed, have very little weight when compared 
with the amount of evidence on which our belief of 
plenary inspiration rests. A well-balanced mind will 
yield its judgment to preponderating evidence, and will 
not give up to universal scepticism, because of the diffi- 
culties which everywhere attend belief even of demon- 
strated truth. Our senses sometimes deceive us ; and 



226 I N S P I R A T I N. 

even consciousness sometimes permits men to think 
themselves different from what they really are ; but we 
must not, therefore, wholly reject the testimony of con- 
sciousness and the senses, and doubt our own existence 
and the existence of the world around us. We rightly 
confide in the testimony of consciousness and the senses, 
though we may be unable to explain away their possible 
illusions, and establish their universal credibility ; and 
we ought to receive with unwavering faith the demon- 
strated truth that the Bible is the word of God, notwith- 
standing some difficulties respecting it that may remain 
unexplained. 

3. The perfection which the doctrine of plenary 
inspiration attributes to the Bible, consists in its being 
what God intended that it should be. Men may sit in 
judgment on the works of God in creation and provi- 
dence, and pronounce them in many particulars different 
from what might rationally be expected to proceed from 
infinite wisdom, power, and goodness ; and, in like man- 
ner, they may judge that the Bible contains things that 
reason decides to be unsuitable to a divine revelation. 
But, in both these cases, it is our wisdom and duty to 
let God judge for himself. The evidence that God made 
the world and the Bible vastly preponderates over all 
the difficulties of our folly and scepticism. If we can- 
not account for some things which we meet with in the 
world and in the Bible, we should be willing to leave 
them unexplained until we have further light. 

4. The perfection of the Bible does not imply that its 
language is perfect. The language is human, and human 
language is not a perfect vehicle of thought ; but God 
has chosen to employ this vehicle ; and, even if we 
could assign no reason for his choice, we may rest 
assured that it was wise, and that his design has not 



OBJECTIONS. 227 

thereby been frustrated. Our duty is to accept the 
revelation as he has given it to us, and to apply to it the 
proper rules for the interpretation of human language, 
that we may learn from it the divine truth which it 
conveys. 

5. The perfection which our doctrine attributes to 
the Scriptures, belongs properly to the autographs of 
the prophets and apostles. God has not judged it neces- 
sary to work a continual miracle of inspiration, to pre- 
serve all the written and printed copies of his word 
from every possible error. As he has judged thus, so 
ought we ; and we ought, therefore, thankfully to re- 
ceive the copies and versions of his holy word, as they 
have come to us under his overruling providence, not- 
withstanding any imperfections which may have arisen 
from the uninspired agency of those who have copied, 
printed, or translated it. But it is also our duty to 
employ whatever means may be in our power for ap- 
proaching as nearly as possible to the precise language 
and meaning of the inspired originals. 

It is our duty thankfully to acknowledge the goodness 
of God in that the evidences of his religion, and the 
great truths of his gospel, may be clearly seen, and 
confidently received, unaffected by the difficulties re- 
specting the comparatively unimportant matters on 
which the objections now under consideration are 
founded. 

The spirit with which the Bible is opposed may be 
learned from the character of the objections that are 
urged against it. As a specimen of these, we may 
take the objection founded on alleged inconsistencies of 
the four evangelists with one another. These incon- 
sistencies, when thoroughly examined, are found to be 
apparent only; and therefore furnish no valid argument 
20 



228 INSPIRATION. 

against either the credibility or the inspiration of the 
sacred narratives. On the contrary, the proof of the 
Gospels becomes vastly increased in force. Imposture 
may under a specious covering conceal inconsistencies 
which nothing but deep search can reveal ; but when 
deep search reveals perfect consistency under an appear- 
ance of contradiction, the absence of fraud is rendered 
certain. Paley's argument from undesigned coinci- 
dences has weight in proportion to the evidence that the 
discovered coincidences were undesigned : but coinci- 
dences under the appearance of contradiction have the 
highest possible proof of being undesigned. Hence if 
it can be shown that the alleged inconsistencies are 
apparent only, and that real harmony lies beneath them ; 
they furnish a very strong argument for the truth of 
the gospel history, and leave the question of its inspira* 
tion free from all objections. All this has been accom- 
plished by writers on the harmony of the Gospels, and 
by commentators on the New Testament ; but a brief 
examination of them, will be found in the sixth chapter 
of the appendix. 

From the character of the objections thus repelled, 
the spirit of infidelity may be learned. The laws of 
evidence adopted in courts of justice require that the 
testimony of credible witnesses should be received, and 
apparent disagreements harmonized if possible. Infi- 
delity will not apply this law to the case of the evan- 
gelists. Their testimony, as was shown in Chapter V., 
is in the highest degree credible. Yet infidels reject it, 
because of seeming inconsistency which they take no 
pains to reconcile. The prominent singularities of the 
Bible, and the beneficial influence which it has exerted 
on the morality and happiness of mankind, entitle it to 
high respect, yet infidels treat it with irreverence, before 



OBJECTIONS. 229 

they have taken pains to make themselves acquainted 
with its contents. When they deign to read the book, 
it is not that they may study, admire, and practise the 
perfect morality which it inculcates by precept, and ex- 
emplifies in the holy character and life of Jesus ; nor is 
it that they may explore its wonderful system of super- 
human doctrines, and by personal experience test their 
alleged sanctifying and beatifying power. Nothing is 
further from their design. They read to discover some- 
thing at which they may cavil ; and it gives them 
pleasure to find apparent disagreements between Mat- 
thew, Mark, Luke, and John. These being discovered, 
they rashly reject the whole volume as a fraud and im- 
posture. The exact fulfilment of innumerable prophecies 
weighs nothing ; and the wonderful propagation of Chris- 
tianity, and all the miracles of Christ and his apostles, 
weigh nothing ; all rise in the balance when a few appar- 
ent inconsistencies between the evangelical witnesses on 
points of trivial importance, are placed in the opposite 
scale. Infidels sometimes say that they cannot believe 
the Bible, because of its inconsistencies ; but if they would 
be honest with themselves, and deal honestly with the sub- 
ject which they forbear to investigate, they would dis- 
cover that their inability proceeds from an evil heart of 
unbelief, and is like that of the Israelites to whom Joshua 
said, " Ye cannot serve the Lord, for he is an holy God." * 
The true source of infidelity is an unholy heart. This 
takes occasion to cavil at seeming inconsistencies : and 
God has .been pleased to allow the existence of the 
occasion that the awful declaration may be fulfilled, 
"Because they receive not the love of the truth, that 
they might be saved, God shall send them strong delu- 

1 Josh. xxiv. 19. 



230 INSPIRATION. 

sions, that they should believe a lie ; that they all might 
be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure 
in unrighteousness." 1 A candid mind, after contempla- 
ting the overpowering evidences of Christianity, would 
decide that the alleged disagreements of the evangelists 
cannot furnish a valid objection to the divine origin of 
the religion, even if the apparent disagreements could 
not be harmonized. But patient investigation converts 
these apparent inconsistencies into undesigned coinci- 
dences, and finds, in the very ground of infidel cavils, a 
firm foundation for Christian faith. 

1 2 Thes. ii. 12. 



CHAPTER X. 
HAKMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

THOUGH NOT DESIGNED TO TEA 
SCIENCE, IS IN STRICT HARMONY WITH IT. 

Man's progress in science is the result of long-con- 
tinued and laborious effort. Each individual who comes 
into the world begins the acquisition of knowledge as 
if nothing had been learned by his predecessors ; and 
great labor on his part is necessary even to reach the 
boundary of their attainments. All mankind are labor- 
ing to learn, and yet the progress in knowledge made 
by new discoveries which extend the boundaries of hu- 
man knowledge are few, and made by a few singularly 
favored individuals. 

The labor necessary to acquire knowledge is a dis- 
cipline which God has wisely assigned to the children 
of men. It would defeat his design, if a father could 
impart all his own knowledge to his children at their 
birth ; and still more effectually w T ould his plan have 
been frustrated, if the Bible, given for the benefit of 
man, had made a revelation of all the sciences which it 
is possible for man to learn. The wisdom and bene- 
volence of God have, in the laborious discipline given 
to man, ends to accomplish which we cannot fully com- 
prehend ; but we can clearly see that the Bible har- 
monizes with the course of Divine Providence, when it 
leaves the knowledge of secular science to be acquired 
by human labor. 

(231) 



232 H A R M NY WITH SCIENCE. 

The silence of the Bible on the subjects of secular 
science accords with the inferiority of their value. It 
may seem to us, whose minds are so engrossed with the 
affairs of the present world, that it would have been 
highly benevolent if the great Father of all had, in 
making a revelation to his children, instructed them 
in agriculture, medicine, civil government, natural phi- 
losophy, and in all the arts which now confer so many 
benefits on civilized life. But every reader of the Bible 
knows that this formed no part of its design. And why ? 
The book itself explains that a far higher and nobler 
end was kept in view. Morals and religion so far tran- 
scend all secular science in importance, that they fill up 
the sacred volume, and matters of inferior interest obtain 
a place only so far as they subserve the grand design. 

The moral and religious instructions of the Bible were 
given to men who were ignorant of modern science ; 
and the design with which it was given would have been 
frustrated if its language had not been accommodated 
to their habits of thought. It was not more necessary 
that God should use human language, than that he 
should address unlearned men in language which they 
could comprehend, and therefore not in the technical 
language of modern science. 

But the Bible, though it adopts the language of unin- 
formed men, makes no mistake on scientific subjects. 
Some of the heathen religions have a false system of 
geography so incorporated with them, that the falsehood 
of the whole is detected by correct geographical instruc- 
tion. Infidels have repeatedly announced that the dis- 
coveries of modern science have in like manner over- 
turned the Bible; but their triumph has been vain. (160) 
On careful examination, the instructions of the holy 
book are found to harmonize with all true science, and 



GEOGRAPHY. 233 

the completeness of the harmony becomes an argument 
that the discoveries of modern science were not unknown 
to the author of the Bible. The instructions given by 
a scientific father to an infant child do not unfold the 
doctrines of astronomy, chemistry, or natural philosophy; 
but if remembered by the child at mature age, may 
furnish proof that the father understood these sciences. 
It may be discoverable, in reviewing the manner of 
his instructions, that he knew more on these subjects 
than he attempted to impart, and that he avoided errors 
into which an ignorant father would have fallen. So 
the scientific reader of the Bible may discover proof 
in its holy pages that the author of the book was not 
unacqainted with modern science. 

Section I. Geography. 

In confirming the truth of Bible history, we are not 
compelled to rely on written testimony exclusively ; but 
numerous monuments of ancient workmanship remain, 
which carry us back to remote times, and place us in 
the midst of living and acting generations that have 
long passed away. In confirming the truth of Bible 
geography, the monumental species of evidence presents 
itself abundantly, with all its impressiveness and indu- 
bitable certainty. The countries, mountains, valleys, 
rivers, seas, and islands, which are mentioned in the 
sacred volume, still remain ; and even many of the 
cities and villages still occupy their ancient sites. 
Modern travellers visit the places once trodden by 
patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and by the Son of God 
himself; and their reports give full confirmation to the 
truth of Bible geography. In some cases, where cities 
have perished, and where scepticism would question the 
possibility of their having ever existed (79), their ruins 



234 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

have been dug up, and unexpected confirmation has 
been given so complete as to silence doubt and cavil. 
While the imperishable features of nature are standing 
monuments, bearing testimony to the truth of Bible 
geography, the disinterred ruins of ancient cities tes- 
tify to the antiquity of the book, and satisfactorily 
establish the truth of its chronology. Were the Bible 
a forgery of modern times, these evidences of its faith- 
fulness to antiquity could not exist. Indeed, no forger 
who hoped to escape detection, would enter so minutely 
and with so little reserve into geographical representa- 
tions and allusions extending to all parts of the known 
world. The writers of the Bible speak out like honest 
men of things which they knew. A forger would have 
dealt more in generals ; or would have failed in his 
knowledge at some point, and exposed his forgery to 
detection. 

A few passages in which the situation of places is 
described in relation to the Jordan, have furnished occa- 
sion for infidel objection. For example, it is objected 
that the following passage falsely locates on the east of 
the river a territory which in truth lies on the west. 
" The land of Zebulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by 
the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gen- 
tiles." 1 Our reply to this objection is that, according 
to Septuagint usage, which the New Testament writers 
follow, the word which is here rendered " beyond'' sig- 
nifies by the side of, without intending either side as 
distinguished from the other. That it does not always 
signify on the farther side, is proved by the fact that it 
occurs in two passages 2 of the Greek version, where it 
means on this side, and is so rendered in our English 

1 Matt. iv. 15. 2 Deut. i. 1 ; iv. 49. 



NATURAL HISTORY. 235 

version. In one verse 1 it occurs twice, referring one 
time to the west side, and the other to the east. When 
either side is to be definitely signified, the addition of a 
phrase toivard the east, or toward the sea, is necessary. 
This explanation removes all difficulty from the passage, 
and applies to other passages of the kind. 

Another infidel objection is, that Moses speaks of the 
city Dan, 2 when no place of that name was in existence ; 
since the city which afterwards received this name, was 
at that time called Laish. 3 We reply, first, that the 
identity of the place with the city afterwards called Dan 
is an assumption without proof. It may have been the 
river Dan, if it be true that a head branch of the Jor- 
dan was called by this name ; or it may have been some 
other place of which we have now no knowledge. We 
reply, secondly, that there is no insuperable difficulty 
in admitting the city Laish to be intended. The Old 
Testament is to be considered the sacred book of the 
Hebrew nation ; and, if Moses wrote Laish, and later 
inspired writers for the sake of perspicuity substituted 
Dan, the new name of the same city, neither he nor 
they can be justly charged with a geographical mistake. 

Section II. Natural History. 

It is objected that Jonah could not have been swal- 
lowed by a whale, because the whale's throat is too small 
to receive the body of a man. 

The reply is, that the word employed by the sacred 
writer denotes a great fish in general. The language 
is, " The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up 
Jonah," 4 and the New Testament has employed a Greek 

1 Num. xxxii. 19. 2 Gen. xiv. 14. 

3 Judges, xviii. 27, 29. * Jonah, i. 17. 



236 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

word which, though rendered "whale," is not restricted 
in its signification to the species of fish that technically 
receives this name. It is supposed that the fish which 
swallowed Jonah belonged to the species of shark, or 
dog fish, called Lamia eanis carcharias. In fishes of 
this species the bodies of men have been found entire. 

It is objected that Noah's ark was not large enough 
to contain a pair of every species of living creatures in 
the world, with the food necessary for their sustenance. 

Our first reply to this objection is, that the length of 
the cubit by which the ark was measured is unknown, 
and therefore the capacity may have been much greater 
than the objection supposes. A fabric which required 
one hundred and twenty years for being built must have 
been of large dimensions. What the arrangements 
were for stowing away the various creatures, we know 
not ; but we may be assured that they were the best pos- 
sible, since infinite wisdom directed the plan. Miraculous 
power must have been exerted, to bring the creatures 
into the ark ; and the same power could preserve them 
without repeated supplies of food, and in a closely- 
crowded condition. 1 Nothing is too hard for omnipo- 
tence. 

Our second reply is, that the deluge may have been 
universal with respect to the human race only, which 
may have been confined at the time to a comparatively 
small part of the earth's surface. On this supposition 

1 We can conjecture that the events may have occurred as 
follows : — After completing the ark, Noah, in obedience to God's 
command, collected a supply of food. This being done, the 
animals, as if moved by instinct, were under divine influence 
attracted to the food, and, having taken a plentiful meal, they 
miraculously retired to their proper places in the ark, and slept 
till the flood subsided. 



COPERNICAN SYSTEM. 237 

only so much space was required in the ark, as would 
preserve the animals needed for man, and for filling up 
the desolated territory. The catastrophe was caused 
by the sin of mankind, and that it cut off the whole 
race with the exception of the few who were preserved 
in the ark, is manifest from the Scripture account, and 
from traditions which have been preserved in almost all 
the nations of the world. (74, 159) It was not neces- 
sary for the purpose of the divine vengeance, that 
animals should be destroyed beyond the boundaries of 
human habitation. The language of Scripture, if in- 
terpreted by the usage of those who speak and write 
with calm and philosophical accuracy, expresses more 
than this : but the Bible abounds in figures of speech, 
and figures of speech are departures from literal truth. 
When it is said God " is a rock," no sane man will take 
the proposition for literal truth, or charge the Bible 
with falsehood for containing it. Among the figures 
used by rude nations, especially in describing events or 
objects which excite admiration, the hyperbole is very 
common ; and since the Bible adopts the common lan- 
guage of men, its style has numerous examples of this 
figure. If all the face of the earth within the horizon 
of human habitation, was submerged by the deluge, and 
all the creatures within that limit destroyed, the de- 
scription of the catastrophe given by Moses, would suit- 
ably represent the facts according to the usus loquendi. 
Compare Gen. xli. 56 ; Deut. ii. 25 ; Acts ii. 5, &c. 

Section III. Copernican System of 
Astronomy. 

Among the absurdities of heathenism, the opinion has 
been held that the earth is borne up, by an elephant 
standing on a tortoise. Considering the age in which 



238 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

the Bible was written, some such silly notion as this, 
would probably have had a place in its pages, if the 
writers had been left to the direction of their own igno- 
rance. But in one of the oldest books in the sacred 
volume, we find the declaration, " He hangeth the earth 
upon nothing." 1 This declaration is beautifully con- 
sistent with the Copernican system of astronomy, and 
if it had been found in the writings of some ancient 
heathen, might have been sufficient proof to an infidel 
philospher that the writer understood the true astronomi- 
cal doctrine. The unlearned overrate the magnitude of 
the earth, and underrate that of the heavenly bodies. 
The royal Psalmist, in accordance with better views, 
contemplated man's littleness, in contrast with the moon 
and stars, 2 and Isaiah represents the comparative little- 
ness of the earth in the beautiful language, " Who hath 
measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted 
out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust 
of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains 
in scales, and the hills in a balance." 3 The ancients 
conceived the blue sky to be a solid vault, holding up a 
supply of water that from time to» time descends in rain 
through openings called the windows of heaven. The 
Greek translators of Genesis have called it by a name 
which expresses solidity, and to which our word " firm- 
ament" corresponds: but the notion of solidity is not 
conveyed by the Hebrew word which Moses employed, 
and which maybe better rendered " the expanse." In 
such language as the ancients could understand, Moses 
describes the philosophic fact that the atmosphere bears 
up the vapors that form rain and descend to the earth 
in showers ; but it is a remarkable and instructive fact, 

1 Job. xxvi. 7. 2 Psalms, viii. 3, 4. 

3 Isaiah, xl. 12. 



GEOLOGY. 239 

that his language is free from the philosophical inaccu- 
racy found in that of the seventy translators, though 
they lived many years after his time. 

Joshua's command to the sun to stand still, 1 and 
various passages of Scripture which attribute stability 
to the earth, have been thought inconsistent with the 
received theory according to which the sun is the centre 
of the solar system, and the earth is in motion per- 
petually. Yet the language expresses in the most in- 
telligible manner the ideas intended. It is not at all 
probable that Joshua understood the theory of the 
earth's diurnal revolution ; and if he did, it was never- 
theless necessary in speaking before the people, to use 
the modes of speech with which they were acquainted ; 
as modern astronomers speak of the sun's rising and 
setting, using popular rather than scientific language. 
A command to the earth to cease its rotation, would have 
needed, in order to render it intelligible, an accompany- 
ing explanation of the astronomical theory ; and this it 
was not the design of God that either Joshua or the Bible 
should give to mankind. In like manner the stability 
attributed to the earth is merely apparent and relative, 
contrasted with the incessant motion and change visible 
in other objects. 

Section IV. Geology. 

The science of geology, which has lately engaged 
much attention, is thought by some to contradict the 
first chapter of Genesis with respect to the date of 
Creation. 

The earth's crust contains innumerable deposits of 
animal and vegetable remains : and from the position of 
the strata in which they are found, geologists computt 

1 Josh. x. 12. 
21 Q 



240 HARMOSY WITH SCIENCE. 

the dates when they were deposited. These dates, it is 
alleged, were long anterior to that which the Mosaic 
account assigns to creation. 

The astronomical difficulty before mentioned, con- 
cerning the motion of the sun and the stability of the 
earth, produced as much embarrassment in a former age, 
as the geological difficulty just stated does at the present 
time. But the former difficulty has long since vanished ; 
and so in due time will the latter. Nay, there is reason 
to believe that the new science will, l*hen better under- 
stood, confirm rather than contradict the inspired record. 

If the human race has existed on the earth for thou- 
sands of ages, how has it happened that all the improve- 
ments in arts, science, and literature, have been made 
within the comparatively very short period of which 
history gives an account ; and how has it happened that 
history itself began its record so recently, and that all 
monuments of the intelligence, labor, and very existence 
of generations innumerable, have been so completely 
obliterated, as to leave not a trace behind ? If the 
computations of geology differ much from the Mosaic 
account with respect to the antiquity of the human race, 
they would have history and reason against them as 
well as the Bible ; but they do not differ. By a general 
agreement of the ablest geologists, no human remains 
have been found except in the later formations. They 
agree that many genera and species of animals lived and 
perished in periods long anterior, when no human being 
trod the earth. Geology therefore has a record which, 
if these interpreters of the science read it correctly, 
affirms in strict harmony with the Mosaic record, that 
man has not always existed on the earth, but came into 
being at the last period of creation, and in the midst of 
previously created animals. 



GEOLOGY. 241 

" It is surely worthy of remark, that while in both 
the sacred and geologic records a strongly defined line 
separates between the period of plants and the succeed- 
ing period of reptiles, and again between the period of 
reptiles and the succeeding period of mammals, no line 
in either record separates between this period of mam- 
mals and the human period. Man came into being as 
the last born of creation, just ere the close of that sixth 
day — the third and terminal period of organic creation — 
to which the great mammals belong." — Miller. 

" There is not in any museum or any private collec- 
tion in the world a single human fossil that can be traced 
to any of the older formations." — Baehman. 

" A few months later, when he [Sir Charles Lyell] 
visited Tuskaloosa, I took occasion to relate what Dr. 
Koch had so solemnly assured me [that he had dis- 
covered the fossil remains of a huge monster, the Mis- 
sourium, which had evidently been killed by human 
beings]. He became quite indignant against Dr. K., 
called him an impostor, and declared his utter disbelief 
of the whole story." — Curtis. 

The supposition that the human race co-existed with 
the long extinct races of the older geologic age was so 
much at variance with what he considered the uniform tes- 
timony of geologic phenomena, that Lyell could not treat 
it with respect. Compare Lyell's Elements of Geology, 
p. 170. 

But Dr. Curtis says : " What are dates * * to the 
geological periods which Sir Charles Lyell thinks indi- 
cated by the sixty feet of penetrated mud of the Nile, 
throughout which he finds burnt brick and other evi- 
dences of civilized man, without having yet reached the 
bottom ? They appear to prove not less than twelve 
thousand years and perhaps thirty thousand." 



242 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

This learned geologist, while allowing so many years 
for the existence of man on the earth, believed that a 
far greater number has passed since the geologic period 
to which the Missourium must be referred, and hence 
he could consistently reject the report of Dr. Koch. 
But while the discoveries of his science justified this 
rejection, his discoveries in the deposits of the Nile do 
not justify the inference respecting the antiquity of man- 
kind, without supposing that the river has made its 
deposits in undisturbed quiet for thousands of years. 
Who will suppose this ? Who will maintain that no 
convulsion has occurred to disturb the order of the 
strata formed by the deposits ? For a single case, take 
the earthquake of A. d. 365, of which Gibbon writes 
thus : — " The shores of the Mediterranean were left dry 
by the sudden retreat of the sea; great quantities of 
fish were caught with the hand ; large vessels were 
stranded on the mud : and a curious spectator amused 
his eye, or rather his fancy, by contemplating the vari- 
ous appearances of valleys and mountains which had 
never before, since the formation of the globe, been ex- 
posed to the sun. But the tide soon returned, with the 
weight of an immense and irresistible deluge which was 
severely felt on the coasts of Sicily, of Dalmatia, of 
Greece, and of Egypt ; large boats were transported 
and lodged on the roofs of houses, or at the distance of 
two miles from the shore ; the people, with their habita- 
tions, were swept away by the waters : and the city of 
Alexandria annually commemorated the day on which 
fifty thousand persons had lost their lives in the inun- 
dation." 

But do very ancient monuments of art incontrovertibly 
prove a coeval antiquity of our race ? When God sent 
the flood on the earth, if, instead of preserving Noah 



GEOLOGY. 243 

and his family to repeople the world, he had chosen to 
create a new race, it is probable that no record of ante- 
diluvian man would have existed, except that which 
would have been contained in the archives of geology. 
Now it is conceivable that these archives may contain 
some record of an extinct pre-Adamic race, capable of 
producing works of art. The conception, however wild 
and improbable, cannot be proved to be absurd or im 
possible : but until this is done, ancient monuments of 
art found in the geologic formations do not incontro- 
vertibly prove a coeval antiquity of our race. 

If geology should furnish proof that, before man was 
created, there existed an intelligent race of creatures 
capable of producing works of art, the received doctrine 
of the science would assign to that race a lower rank in 
the scale of being than to man. That doctrine is, that 
in the progress of creation through the countless ages 
of the past, there has been a steady progress from the 
lower to the higher orders of animated beings, the infe- 
rior races passing away and giving place to superior. 
Between man and the highest order of brutes now 
known, there is an interval sufficiently wide to admit an 
intervening race as the forerunner of man. Of the 
existing varieties in the human race, some are further 
removed from brutes than others, but the interval be- 
tween the highest and lowest varieties is less than that 
between the lowest variety of man and the highest 
order of brutes : yet the first interval is filled up with 
intermediate varieties, while the second is occupied by 
no creature now known. If geology can show that such 
a creature once existed, perhaps possessing intelligence 
without the moral endowments which now distinguish 
the human race in all its varieties, the discovery might 
21* 



244 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

be consistently admitted among the truths of science, 
and it would not conflict with revelation. 

A few years ago, when Lyell published his Elements 
of Geology, it was a well-established doctrine of the 
science, that all human remains, and all the monuments 
of art were confined, not only to the latest or tertiary 
formations, but to their pliocene or most recent period ; 
and not only to the pliocene period, but to its most re- 
cent subdivision, the newer pliocene : and the existence 
of human remains or monuments of art was regarded as 
sufficient proof that the formations in Avhich they were 
found belonged to this most recent period. But some 
later discoveries, if correctly reported, find monuments 
of art mingled in the Belgian caves with the fossil 
remains of the mammoth and other animals belonging 
to a more ancient period. How they came there is yet 
to be accounted for. It is remarkable that the remains 
considered human, which are found in these caves, 
appear to have belonged to creatures differing from the 
present race of men, if we may judge from a particular 
description of one of them : — " The teeth and the skulls 
of these men are found, and their bones, one of the 
most ancient, the Neanderthal bones, indicating enor- 
mous strength and muscular development, with a skull 
the most brutal ever discovered." — Curtis. 

Shall we conclude that the monuments of art were 
the workmanship of semi-human beings belonging to an 
extinct race ? Or shall we conclude that some rude 
sons of Adam took up their abode in a cave where 
ancient animals had left their bones ; that they used 
these bones in manufacturing " bone needles seven or 
eight inches long," now remaining as monuments of 
their art ; and that they afterwards left their own bones 
in the same cave to mingle with the mass ? The latter 



GEOLOGY. 215 

hypothesis agrees best with the general testimony of 
geologic phenomena. 

We wait with patient interest for the opening of each 
new page in the geological record, and we confidently 
expect that what God has written in this record will, if 
properly read, be ultimately found to harmonize with 
what he has written in the Bible. 

Since the preceding was written, the Annual Report 
of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution 
for the year 1867 has come into my hands ; and an ably 
written article published with it, entitled u Man as the 
Contemporary of the Mammoth and the Reindeer in 
Middle Europe," is now before me. This article gives 
an account of geological discoveries made in France, 
Belgium, and other parts of Europe, from 1828 to 1860, 
with scientific deductions from these discoveries. These 
deductions carry back the antiquity of the human race 
thousands of years before the time of Adam, but they 
leave undisturbed the received doctrines of geology, 
that long periods preceded the introduction of man into 
the world, and that when he appeared, he came forth 
the last of creation 

Most of the recent discoveries in the European caves 
are manifestly reconcilable with the supposition that the 
great bones found there were deposited before they 
lived who cracked them and wrought them into needles. 
Whether the few discoveries which are thought to be 
irreconcilable with this supposition have been correctly 
interpreted, is a question which it will be well to reserve 
for further scientific examination : and there is still 
another question which must be determined before the 
high antiquity claimed for our race can be established. 

In a former paragraph a hypothesis is timidly pro- 
posed, that a race now extinct, of beiDgs capable of 



246 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

producing works of art, may have existed before the 
time of Adam. Let us compare with this hypothesis 
the following from page 340 of the article before us : — 
" The very few ancient skulls hitherto found authorize 
us to speak only with great reserve of the type of the 
races of men existing at that remote period. The skull 
discovered in a cavern of the Neanderthal, near Dus- 
seldorf, exhibits an unusual thickness. The projection 
of the supra-orbital ridges is enormously great, the 
forehead narrow and very low. The development of 
the brain was slight, and similar to that of certain Aus- 
tralians. Carl Vogt is of opinion that this skull and 
that found by Schmerling, in the cavern of Engis, near 
Liege, are remains of a race no longer existing in 
Europe. But scattered discoveries like these scarcely 
entitle us to such positive conclusions ; it were well to 
await further revelations before resigning ourselves to 
any settled determination on this point." 

In this extract the timidly proposed hypothesis comes 
forth with a new aspect : yet no longer appears as a wild 
and improbable conjecture, but rather as a scientific de- 
duction, confidently made by one geologist, and cauti- 
ously submitted by another to the further consideration 
of scientific men, that its right to be admitted among the 
established truths of science may be duly examined. 
The subject which these geologists have left for consi- 
deration possesses, it may be, far greater importance than 
either of them imagined. It may be that the penetra- 
tion of Carl Vogt has discovered a clue which will guide 
to a perfect reconciliation between geology and the 
Bible. 

The primitive race appears to have included different 
varieties, possessing likeness in different degrees to the 
present race of mankind. The Neanderthal skull pro- 



G E L (I Y. 247 

bably belonged to the lowest variety. Another variety 
is distinguished by the roundness of the skull. Some 
of the bones indicate enormous strength : others are 
beneath the ordinary stature of the present race. 

The assumption which the article before us every- 
where makes, that the primitive race that coexisted 
with the mammoths were our forefathers, is embarrassed 
with a perplexing difficulty which is discussed at p. 357 
without obtaining a satisfactory solution. Many proofs 
are found that the race possessed intelligence and skill, 
and that it made considerable progress in arts and civil- 
ization. The delineations of animals found among their 
works of art compare favorably with the saints and Ma- 
donnas of times long since the introduction of Chris- 
tianity. It is manifest that the improvement in arts and 
civilization was progressive ; and if it began twenty or 
thirty thousand years ago, how can it be accounted for 
that so little advance has been made, and that the rise 
and progress of the arts needed to be repeated after 
myriads of years ? The easiest solution of the difficulty 
is, that the race has not been continuous. The hypo- 
thesis of Carl Yogt appears to have had respect chiefly, 
if not exclusively, to the lower varieties of the primitive 
race : but the difficulty now under consideration respects 
the higher varieties, and affords a strong argument 
against limiting the hypothesis. Let the hypothesis to 
which the attention of scientific men is invited be, that 
the whole primitive race became extinct, like its sup- 
posed contemporary the mammoth. 

In the hypothesis of a pre-Adamic intelligent race, the 
conjecture was admitted that they may have been without 
moral endowments. But if the discoveries made in the 
cave of Aurignac are rightly interpreted on pp. 341 and 
342, funeral rites were celebrated in that cave by men of 



248 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

the primitive race, and offerings were made to their 
departed dead, designed for their use in the new state of 
being on which they had entered. It is hence concluded 
that these men believed in a future state ; and, if so, 
they probably had a sense of accountability and moral 
obligation. 

Geology gives an impressive view of God's eternity, 
and reveals his eternal power and Godhead in the crea- 
tion and preservation of races that have long ceased to 
exist. Since it thus enlarges our view of his creation 
and providence, we ought not to be surprised if it should 
also enlarge our view of his moral government, and 
bring to our knowledge a race of beings that have 
finished their probation, and gone to the retributions 
of eternity. They may have perished in some general 
catastrophe, which left no Noah surviving to perpetuate 
the race ; or they may have been carried off by a suc- 
cession of disasters. We cannot expect geology to give 
us a minute account of the manner in which they closed 
their lives : but if its records are correctly interpreted 
on p. 360, they describe in part a calamity which may 
have extended to the destruction of the race. "But 
there come days of disaster, and truly disaster is not 
spared them. A concussion, a sudden downfall drives 

them from their rocky dwelling 

But the end of this oldest of known epochs is at hand. 
Floods overwhelm the region. The dwellers, driven 
from their caves, seek refuge in vain on the hills. 
Death overtakes them; a dark grotto becomes the grave 
of those hapless fugitives who, as at Furfooz, were wit- 
nesses of this great catastrophe. Nothing is spared by 
the fearful element." 

After all it may be that our present purpose has no 
need of the new hypothesis. If it can be fully made out 



GEOLOGY. 249 

from the recent discoveries, that our race at some past 
time coexisted with the mammoth and reindeer, this will 
not prove that it existed at the remote period in which 
these animals were most numerous. The reindeer race 
is not now wholly extinct ; and why may not the recent 
discoveries be interpreted to prove the lateness of the 
mammoth's extinction, rather than the great antiquity 
of man ? 

In seeking to reconcile geology and the Bible, we 
ought to bear in mind that, though truth is always con- 
sistent with itself, its consistency is often not apparent. 
It is possible for two truths to seem contradictory of 
each other, so long as we are ignorant of some interme- 
diate truth which unites and harmonizes them. Take 
the following for an example : — A. has five children, 
and B. has three children ; yet, when all these children 
are counted, they are only seven in number. That the 
Bible is the word of God, is a truth established on irre- 
fragable proof; and on this proof our faith ought to 
rest without doubting, though we may be unable to see 
the consistency between the teachings of the Bible and 
those of science. God has given us the Bible as a reve- 
lation from himself ; and has accompanied it with such 
proofs of its divine origin that he authoritatively 
demands our faith : and we are disobedient to God, 
unjust to ourselves, and false to truth, if we withhold 
our faith from the divine testimony, until we are able 
to reconcile it with the deductions of geology. 

The Bible was given for the moral and religious 
benefit of men, and not to teach them geology. It was 
needful for us to know our relation to the God that made 
us, and to understand that the being whom we are 
required to love and worship, is the Creator of all 
things. So much knowledge the brief history of crea- 



250 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

tion, given in the book of Genesis, sufficiently imparts. 
The question whether long geological periods preceded 
the creation of man, it neither proposes nor resolves ; but 
leaves, with the question concerning the mechanism of the 
solar system, to be investigated by human labor and skill. 

The first sentence of the Bible very briefly announces 
the fact that " In the beginning God created the heavens 
and the earth ;" and the next sentence, " The earth was 
without form and void," describes a state of things 
which probably existed immediately after the beginning 
in which the earth was created ; but which may have 
been reproduced many ages afterwards by some convulsion 
of nature. It may be that the Mosaic account begins 
with this last date to describe the series of changes 
through which the power of the Creator in the work of 
six days brought the present order of things into 
existence. 

Some geologists think that they find a harmony be- 
tween the testimony of the rocks and that of the Bible, 
not only with respect to the fact and date of man's 
creation, but also with respect to the order in which all 
other created things were brought into being. In their 
opinion the geological periods of which the rocks testify, 
form a succession of progressive changes which are well 
described by Moses as six days' work of the Creator. 1 

1 It is not a valid objection to this theory, that the sun did 
not make his appearance in the firmament until the fourth day. 
Light was created on the first day ; but it reached the earth's 
surface for the first three days through vapors which concealed 
the sun's disc from view ; and Moses has described events as 
they would have appeared to a beholder at the earth's surface. 
We have no right to conclude from our present experience, that 
the sun's disc may not have been concealed by clouds and mists 
for a long geological period. Geology furnishes proof that there 
was a long carboniferous period, during which vegetation at- 



GEOLOGY. 251 

If this harmony can be clearly and satisfactorily made 
out, we may conclude that some sufficient reason existed 
for using the term day to denote a long geological 
period, and the terms evening and morning to denote 
parts of the period. The Holy Spirit, in predicting by 
the prophets changes to take place under divine Provi- 
dence, has used the term day to denote a year ; and the 
same spirit, in revealing past changes which have occurred 
under the operation of creative power, may have em- 
ployed the same term in a similar extension of its 
meaning. Paul in writing to the Hebrews seems to say 
that God's rest had continued from the creation down 
to gospel times, and that true believers during all 
this period had entered into it, and enjoyed fellowship 
therein with God. 1 If God's day of rest continued for 
thousands of years, the same may have been true of his 
days of labor. He now ceases wholly from creating, 
both in the evening and the morning of this day, which 
may be periods distinguished from each other by the 
rising of the Sun of righteousness, that is, by the coming 
of the Messiah. Perhaps the evening and the morning 
of the six preceding days may denote alternate periods 
of cessation and activity in the exercise of creative 
power. 

As the divine origin of prophecy is proved by its ful- 
filment, so the divine origin of the Mosaic account of 
creation is proved by its agreement with the discoveries 
of geological science, and it is no valid objection to 
either that in both the term day is used in an extraor- 
dinary sense. The laws of interpretation must admit 

tained a rank luxuriance wholly unknown to our times ; and the 
inference is rational that a state of atmosphere of which we 
have now no experience prevailed during this period. 
1 Heb. iv. 1-11. 



252 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

words to be used in accommodation to the nature of the 
subject. A day's work for man is measured by a few 
hours ; but a day's work of God, what is its duration ? 
The historian of the creation seems to have intimated 
that he did not use the term day in its ordinary sense ; 
for after having described the work of six days, he speaks 
of the whole as the work of one day : " In the day that 
the Lord God made the earth and the heavens." 1 

The hypothesis that the words " The earth was without 
form and void" refer to a state of things produced by a 
great convulsion, allows the term day in the Mosaic ac- 
count of the changes ensuing to be taken in its ordinary 
sense. But to this hypothesis, it is objected that geology 
furnishes no proof that such a convulsion occurred. On 
the contrary, it is alleged that the same genera and 
species of animals which had long existed before man 
was created, continued afterwards to inhabit the world 
with him, and therefore their lines of succession were 
not broken by any destructive catastrophe. This objec- 
tion however is not decisive. In the progressive changes 
of the geological periods, a constant advance is apparent 
towards higher orders of beings. The advance from the 
genera and species of animals produced in the last period, 
was not to higher orders of brutes, but to rational man. 
If it did not fall in with the Creator's design to make 
further improvement in brute animals, it was easy for 
his power to reproduce the same genera and species 
that may have been destroyed by a convulsion of nature ; 
and such a convulsion may have been as necessary to 
prepare the earth for the habitation of a rational race, 
as the general conflagration will hereafter be to render 
the new heaven and the new earth an abode of righte- 

1 Gen. ii. 4. 



GEOLOGY. 253 

ousness. Changes may have been necessary in the 
elevation of mountains, the extent and position of seas, 
the course of rivers, the fertility of lands, and the depo- 
site of minerals, to make the globe such a habitation as 
God was pleased to give to men ; but no change may 
have been necessary in the genera and species of brute 
animals, and the reproduction of pre-existing genera and 
species may have been a sort of resurrection, at the 
beginning of the present world, serving as a type and 
pledge of the resurrection which is to take place at the 
end of the world. 

Geologists find proof that in the past ages numerous 
convulsions occurred, rending the earth's crust, and 
disturbing the order of its strata, sometimes elevating 
them to mountainous height. These convulsions have 
been the chief instrumentality by which the earth has 
been made to change its form, and to become a fit abode 
for man. When, by these slowly operating natural 
causes, the materials had been collected, and put to- 
gether in nearly the order proper to form a habitation 
for man ; and when the time drew nigh for him to be 
created, and put in possession of it ; the Great Architect, 
to whom nothing is impossible, and whom no labor can 
weary, may have chosen to perfect and beautify it by a 
speedy process, taking the work to pieces, readjusting 
its parts, and reconstructing the whole in such a style 
that he was willing to pronounce it "good," " very 
good." So he will at death take to pieces the human 
body, which is his workmanship by the instrumentality 
of slowly operating natural causes, and will afterwards, 
by an instantaneous process, reconstruct it in superior 
beauty, for the final abode of the immortal spirit. 

We have thus seen that there are two modes of har- 
monizing Moses and geology, without rejecting the facts 



254 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

and doctrines of the science. FuYther research will 
throw more light on the subject, and will more fully 
elucidate the harmony of which our present discovery is 
imperfect, though more than sufficient to silence infidel 
doubts and cavils. 

Section V. Plurality of Worlds. 

Infidels have objected that the Christian doctrine of 
redemption is inconsistent with the discoveries of modern 
astronomy, which, it is alleged, have proved that there 
are in the universe innumerable worlds of intelligent 
beings who need the care and compassion of the Creator 
as much as the inhabitants of the earth. If it was 
necessary for us, that the Son of God should become 
incarnate, live more than thirty years on earth, and then 
die as an expiatory sacrifice, the objection infers that 
it is necessary for him to perform a like mission to 
every other world, and make in each a similar oblation. 
That a divine person should be subjected to a perpetual 
succession of humiliations and sufferings, is deemed suf- 
ficiently absurd to disprove the doctrine from which the 
conclusion is supposed to follow. 

This objection assumes for modern astronomy much 
more than it can justly claim. The science has ascer- 
tained that the other planets of the solar system have 
like the earth a revolution of seasons and a regular re- 
turn of day and night. It has also discovered by the 
telescope innumerable fixed stars which the unaided 
vision of man cannot see. Between these fixed stars 
and our sun it has shown that there is an analogy which 
renders it probable that each fixed star is, like the sun, 
a centre around which a system of planets is arranged 
resembling our solar system. Because astronomers 
have been unable to comprehend for what purpose all 



PLURALITY OF WORLDS. 255 

these worlds have been made, they have conjectured 
that they were designed for the accommodation of ra- 
tional inhabitants, capable of adoring and serving their 
Creator. But at the most this is only a probable con- 
jecture, and astronomers have never pretended to prove 
it. Now, to set aside the irrefragable proofs of divine 
revelation for an astronomical conjecture, is irrational. 
If the conjecture cannot be entertained in harmony with 
divine revelation, we ought not to hesitate for a moment 
which of the two we should abandon. 

The objection assumes that the inhabitants of these 
innumerable worlds are fallen creatures, needing redemp- 
tion. On this point astronomy furnishes no data for 
conjecture. If there are inhabitants, the science has no 
means of ascertaining their moral character ; and on 
this point natural religion and revelation give it no 
assistance. 

Another assumption of the objection is, that redemp- 
tion must extend wherever there are fallen creatures, if 
it be provided for mankind. On this point also astro- 
nomy can teach nothing ; and natural religion knows 
nothing about redemption. All our knowledge of it is 
from revelation ; and revelation, instead of giving coun- 
tenance to the assumption, plainly contradicts it. The 
angels that kept not their first estate are fallen crea- 
tures, and yet no redemption has been provided for 
them. It is represented as an act of distinguishing 
grace, that the Son of God should from everlasting 
have his delights among the sons of men, 1 and that he 
should take on him the nature of man. 2 It is moreover 
represented that in the nature of man he has been 
invested with power to rule over all creatures for 

1 Prov. viii. 31. 2 Heb. ii. 1G. 

22* r 



256 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

the benefit of his redeemed church ; and that their re- 
demption will be his glory and joy through eternity ; 
his redeemed will be from every kindred, tongue, na- 
tion, and people of the earth : but that they will be 
gathered from other worlds than the earth, or other 
races of apostate beings than man, is a supposition to 
which revelation gives no countenance, and for which 
the astronomer cannot pretend to give the faintest 
shadow of proof. 

The Bible doctrine of God's distinguishing favor to 
the human race involves no impossibility or contradic- 
tion, and the proofs are so abundant that we ought 
gratefully to receive the doctrine, even though we could 
conceive no reason for it, or find no analogy to it in 
all the dispensations of God's government. But it is 
conceivable that the highest honor of the divine govern- 
ment may be connected with some special act of grace, 
and that some one place in the wide dominions of the 
universal sovereign should be the chosen spot at which 
this grace should be displayed, and the monument of it 
erected. So on the broad surface of the earth there 
are spots where victories have been achieved, or other 
events have occurred, with which the chief glory of 
kingdoms has been connected. So from all the nations 
of the earth God selected one to be his peculiar people ; 
and from all the places on earth he selected Sion for his 
peculiar dwelling, and Calvary for the work of redemp- 
tion : and it is analogous that the earth should be chosen 
from all the dominions of God for this singular display 
of wisdom and benevolence. The selection of our little 
world for the most stupendous of all God's works, what- 
ever mystery may attend it, is therefore not without 
analogy : and though the reason of it may be undis- 
coverable by our finite understanding, it was doubtless 



PLURALITY OP WORLDS. 257 

clearly perceived and fully comprehended by the divine 
omniscience. 

The objection which we are considering, let it be 
observed, lies against the matter of revelation, and not 
against its evidences. It presumes to sit in judgment 
on the question, whether the distinguishing favor to the 
human race revealed in the Bible is worthy of him who 
created all worlds ; and having decided that it is not, it 
rejects the favor itself and the revelation which makes 
it known. Such are the pride and ingratitude of infi- 
delity, and they are so obviously involved in the objec- 
tion as to furnish to the well-disposed mind a sufficient 
refutation of it. But it will be useful to expose its 
unreasonableness by the two following considerations. 

I. What the objection takes for its foundation is one 
of several possible suppositions, and ought not to be 
assumed true until the others have been proved false. 

The moon, because it is nearer to us than any other 
heavenly body, has been more thoroughly examined by 
the telescope. The result of this examination has not 
been favorable to the supposition that it is fitted for the 
habitation of animated beings. If the moon is not 
inhabited, the theory which assigned inhabitants to it 
may be equally false in its application to other celestial 
bodies, and may need nothing to disprove it but better 
telescopes. The moon has other uses than to sustain 
inhabitants ; and the same may be true of all the celes- 
tial bodies, even though their uses may never have 
entered into our imagination. The moon agrees very 
nearly with the earth in the quantity of light and heat 
which it receives from the sun : but all the other bodies 
of the solar system probably differ from our world so 
much in temperature that they cannot be adapted to 
creatures resembling man and the other animals of our 



258 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

globe. If the moon, notwithstanding its agreement in 
temperature with the earth, is not inhabited, an in- 
creased probability arises that the planets which burn 
under the intense heat of the sun, or freeze at immense 
distances from him, are without inhabitants. If it be 
said that God is able to make creatures whose natures 
shall be adapted to the temperatures of their several 
habitations, we reply that God is equally able to adapt 
creatures to other modes of government than that which 
he has established for man. The objection is compelled 
to admit that the inhabitants of other worlds are not 
like man in physical condition, and it has therefore no 
right to assume a likeness in moral condition. 

If the deductions of geology may be relied on, our 
own globe existed many ages without animated inhabit- 
ants, and many ages more before man was created. For 
what purpose it existed so long without any inhabitant 
who could adore and serve his Creator, infidelity has no 
right to require us to say, and we are under no greater 
obligation to explain the use of the other worlds which 
astronomy has discovered. The hosts of angels who 
now visit the earth and who sang together at the crea- 
tion of our world, may have frequented the earth before 
man was formed, and may have used it as a temple for 
their devotions, and contemplated with adoring praise 
the wonderful works of the Creator's hand ; and they 
may have learned lessons useful to them as moral and 
religious beings, from the exhibitions by the various 
races of animals, of brute passions uncontrolled by a 
moral faculty. So the angels, countless in number, 
may now visit all the worlds through immense space, 
and may find in them all new incitements to admire, 
adore, and love the Great Supreme. The Creator may 



PLURALITY OF WORLDS. 259 

be adored and served in worlds that are not the fixed 
abode of moral beings. 

Another supposition is possible. Man, made a little 
lower than the angels, possesses a nature intermediate 
between the angels and the brutes. Like the angels he 
is capable of aspiring to heaven ; but, like the brutes, 
he is fastened to the ground, and hence never visits 
other worlds as the angels are capable of doing. The 
glorified body which shall hereafter be given to the 
saints, and which will be like the body of Christ, will, 
we have reason to believe, be uncontrolled by the power 
of gravity. As Christ ascended from Mount Olivet, so 
the saints in the last day will rise to meet the Lord in the 
air. Sinful man is now confined by gravity to the earth, 
as if shut up in prison. It may be, that, if our first 
parents had stood the probation assigned to them with- 
out sinning, they would in due time have been changed, 
as the saints will be in the last day who are alive on the 
earth at the coming of Christ, and would have been 
made like the angels in the power and privilege of going 
at large through all the works of Jehovah. It may be 
that whole generations of men might, in regular suc- 
cession, have passed through a probation resembling, in 
length, our present life ; and, after completing it in 
innocence, might have been translated, like Enoch and 
Elijah, without tasting death, and with the privilege of 
frequently returning to some glorious Tabor for profit- 
able and happy converse with those left behind. Now, 
if other beings have been formed in some other worlds 
in whom spirit and matter are united as in man, it 
may be that they have stood their probation, and have 
joined the angelic hosts in their delightful visits to all 
parts of creation ; or, if, like man, any of them may 
have fallen, it may be that God has doomed them to be 



260 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

companions of the angels that kept not their first estate. 
Shut up in our prison, we are cut off from intercourse 
with other parts of the universe ; and are, therefore, 
ignorant respecting them. The infidel conjectures which 
arise from this ignorance are poor substitutes for the 
certain knowledge which revelation imparts. 

II. The vastness of creation, instead of furnishing a 
valid objection against redemption, greatly enhances its 
excellence and glory. 

The angels take delight in the work of redemption. 
They joyfully announced the birth of the Redeemer, 
and attended him on his ministry. They now serve as 
ministering spirits to the redeemed, are desirous to 
understand the mystery of redemption, rejoice when a 
sinner repents, and learn from the church the manifold 
wisdom of God. Under Christ the angels, the saints in 
heaven, and the saints on earth, are all gathered into 
one community, possessing a common sympathy. He is 
head over all things to the church : therefore all holy 
intelligences throughout the universe are, under Christ, 
included in the common fellowship of which Christ and 
the redeemed church are the centre ; all take delight in 
the work of redemption, in the character and person of 
the Redeemer, in the grace bestowed on the redeemed, 
and in the glory to God which ensues. Redemption will 
be to all holy intelligences the means of obtaining the 
brightest discoveries of God's moral perfections ; it will, 
therefore, be to them the source of the highest felicity. 
The glory of redemption would be great if its benefits 
extended only to all parts of the little globe which we 
inhabit ; but its excellence and glory are enhanced be- 
yond all computation, if its benefits extend to worlds 
innumerable throughout the vast dominion of the 
Almighty. 



PLURALITY OF WORLDS. 261 

The exaltation of Christ to universal dominion is the 
reward conferred on him for his obedience unto death. 
The glory of redemption may, therefore, be measured 
by the extent of the dominion granted to him. Satan 
is styled the god of this world, and the prince of the 
power of the air. After his successful temptation of 
our first parents he appears to have claimed the earth 
as his own, and to have regarded it the stronghold of his 
power. It seemed good to the infinite wisdom of God 
that the Son of God should enter the stronghold of the 
enemy, that the conflict with the prince of darkness 
should be waged here, and that he should here place his 
heel on the old serpent's head. When we contrast the 
littleness of the earth with the vastness of creation, we 
contrast the dominion claimed by Satan with the domi- 
nion actually possessed by the Redeemer, and the con- 
trast redounds immeasurably to the glory of redemp- 
tion. 

It is a subject of painful contemplation that multitudes 
of our race die in impenitence and are for ever lost. 
If the moral condition of other worlds in the universe is 
like that of the earth's inhabitants at present, Satan's 
cause has been thus far triumphant ; and when Almighty 
wrath shall destroy him and all his adherents, the num- 
ber of the destroyed will greatly exceed the number of 
the saved. We are pained at the thought ; but our 
minds find relief in the doctrine that Jesus Christ's 
dominion is not confined to this little world. Though 
multitudes on earth will not have him to reign over 
them, he has obedient subjects in other parts of his 
empire, who rejoice in his victory over Satan, and 
delight to do him honor. Great as is the number of 
those who reject his reign on earth, it may be that it is 
very small compared with the multitudes of those who 



262 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

in distant worlds rejoice to render him homage. It may 
be that when the enemies of his reign shall all perish, 
their number will not bear a greater proportion to the 
number of his loyal and happy subjects, than the num- 
ber of executioDS for capital crimes in the best of 
earthly governments bears to that of the orderly and 
virtuous citizens. 

The vastness of creation not only gives relief to the 
pain which our minds suffer in contemplating the present 
prevalence of wickedness in the earth, but it also harmo- 
nizes delightfully with our hope that the earth itself will 
be delivered from the power of the adversary. The 
fact that all the rest of the universe is in the hands of 
our Redeemer, encourages the hope that the compara- 
tively few enemies of his reign who now on earth reject 
his authority, will soon be brought into subjection. 
This world, polluted by sin, has been shut out from the 
holy fellowship of worlds, like Miriam, shut out for 
leprosy from the camp of Israel : but the work of re- 
demption is effecting its cleansing. The pollution will 
ere long be removed, the earth will become an abode of 
righteousness, and the universal fellowship will be re- 
stored, when the New Jerusalem will descend from 
heaven to earth, and the intercommunion of worlds, 
which sin has interrupted, shall be re-established. 

Section VI. Unity of the Human Race. 

The term race signifies descendants from a common 
ancestor, and is varied in its application according as 
the ancestor is more or less remote. Israelites, Edomites, 
and Ishmaelites are distinct races, as descended from 
Jacob, Esau, and Ishmael ; and yet they are of one race 
as descended from the remoter ancestor Abraham. So 
we speak of Caucasians, Mongolians, and Ethiopians as 



UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 263 

distinct races, without intending to intimate any doubt 
of their having originated from a common ancestor. 

In zoological classification man belongs to the class 
Mammalia, and order Bimana. This order has not dis- 
tinct genera and species. Cuvier remarks : " Man forms 
but one genus, and that genus the only one of its order." 
He considers man as one species ; and under the head 
" Variety of the human species," says: " Three races 
appear very distinct — the Caucasian, or white, the Mon- 
golian, or yellow, and the Ethiopian, or negro." In 
explanation of the distinction between species and 
variety, he says : " The development of organized beings 
is more or less rapid and more or less extended, as cir- 
cumstances are more or less favorable. Heat, the 
abundance and species of nutriment, with other causes, 
exercise great influence, and this influence may extend 
to the whole body in general, or to certain organs in 
particular : thence arises the impossibility of perfect 
similitude between the offspring and parent. 

" Differences of this kind between organized beings, 
form what are termed varieties. 

" There is no proof that all the differences which now 
distinguish organized beings, are such as may have been 
produced by circumstances. All that has been advanced 
upon the subject is hypothetical. Experience, on the 
contrary, appears to prove that in the actual state of the 
globe, varieties are confined within narrow limits, and 
go back as far as we may, we still find those limits the 
same. 

" We are thus compelled to admit of certain forms, 
which, from the origin of things, have perpetuated them- 
selves, without exceeding these limits ; and every being 
appertaining to one or other of these forms, constitutes 
23 



264 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

what is termed a species. Varieties are accidental sub- 
divisions of species. 

" Species should be denned the reunion of individuals 
descended one from the other, or from common parents, 
or from such as resemble them as strongly as they resem- 
ble each other. But although this definition is strict, it 
will be seen that its application to particular individuals 
may be very difficult, when the necessary experiments 
have not been made. ***** ]?i xe( l forms that 
are perpetuated by generation, distinguish their species, 
determine the complications of the secondary functions 
proper to each of them, and assign to them the parts 
they are to play on the great stage of the universe." 

We have, therefore, the authority of this master in 
zoological science for considering all human beings as 
constituting one order, one genus, one species, and for 
regarding the different races of men as varieties or acci- 
dental subdivisions of this species, such as arise from 
the influence of food and climate on the generation and 
growth of animals. 

The distinction between man and all other animals of 
the globe, is very strongly marked, inasmuch as he is 
the only species of his genus, and the only genus of his 
order. But this distinction, so strongly marked in the 
anatomy and physiology of his body, is still more 
strongly marked in the moral and religious constitution 
of his mind. No other animal on the globe bears any 
resemblance to him in this particular ; and yet in this 
particular all the varieties of the human species agree. 
Races and tribes of men may differ greatly in their 
physical and intellectual peculiarities ; but they are all 
alike in possessing a mental constitution, which renders 
them capable of moral and religious sentiment. 

Though food and climate are known to affect races of 



UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 265 

animals, and to produce varieties in the different species, 
it is, nevertheless, maintained by some that the diversity 
which exists in the human species, is not to be attributed 
to natural causes. They deny that the distinct races 
are descended from one stock, having but one pair of 
ancestors. This opinion conflicts with Scripture, which 
teaches that God has made all nations of one blood; 1 
that all men fell in Adam ; 2 and that Eve was the 
mother of all living. 3 It is remarkable that another 
class of scientific opposers of revelation maintain a 
theory as widely different from this as possible. They 
hold that not only the varieties, but also the classes, 
orders, genera, and species of animated beings, have all 
come into existence, and assumed their various forms, in 
obedience to the laws of nature ; and that creation is 
only a natural development of various living forms from 
a few ancient vital organisms of simple structure, per- 
haps from a single animated fibre. It may be needless 
to say that both these opposite theories have been advo- 
cated with ingenuity ; and that their advocates find 
some phenomena of nature which, when considered alone, 
give a sort of countenance to their speculations. But 
true science waits for an extended survey of phenomena, 
and a wide induction of particulars, before it fixes its 
principles firmly ; and the friends of revelation may 
justly demand that these scientific opposers of the 
Bible should settle the differences between themselves, 
and determine what true science teaches on the point, 
before they affirm that its teachings contradict the 
Bible. 

We do not claim that zoological science can prove all 
the races of men to have proceeded from one pair of 

1 Acts, xvii. 26. a Rom. v. 12. 

3 Gen. iii. 20. 



266 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

ancestors. 1 In the first creation many animals of one 
species may have been formed ; and whether the human 
species had one pair of ancestors or many, it is beyond 
the power of the science to determine. But we deny 
that the science can pronounce the descent of all from 
one pair impossible. It admits that natural causes pro- 
duce great variety in animal races ; and the extent of 
this variety it can know from observation only. It can- 
not decide that in the recondite and mysterious process 

1 It cannot be proved that God, in bringing the numerous 
races of animals into existence, created only one pair of each 
species ; but Dr. Bachman, in his work on the Unity of the 
Human Race, has gone far towards establishing the following as 
truths of natural science : — 

1. The division of animals into classes, orders, genera, and 
varieties, is made by scientific classification, which groups ob- 
jects according to the resemblances that are found in them ; but 
the division into species was made by nature previous to all sci- 
entific investigation, and made with a manifest regard to propa- 
gation. 

2. Throughout the whole course of propagation, nature pre- 
serves the distinction of species as it has existed from the begin- 
ning, and never originates a new species. The hybrids which 
are produced by an unnatural intermixture of two different 
species, are incapable of propagating an intermediate species. 

3. For every distinct species of animals and plants there has 
been, somewhere on the surface of the earth, a centre of crea- 
tion, at which it was brought into existence by a power superior 
to nature, and from which it has spread by the natural process 
of propagation. 

4. Numerous and widely differing varieties have been pro- 
duced by removal of species from their place of origin ; espe- 
cially in those animals and plants which by domestication and 
cultivation have come under the power of man, and have accom- 
panied him in his extensive migrations. 

5. Different varieties of the same species have not originated 
at different centres of creation. 



UNITY OF THE HUMAN BACE. 267 

of generation, some extraordinary cause may not at 
some time have operated, producing changes of extraor- 
dinary character and rare or singular occurrence. They 
who maintain that the varieties of the human species 
must have been generated by more than a single pair 
of ancestors, refer these varieties to the will and power 
of the Creator. Now, the Creator is also the God of 
providence, controlling the operation of natural causes, 
both ordinary and extraordinary ; and, since it was his 
will that varieties in the human species should exist, it 
was in his power to produce these varieties by his pro- 
vidence as easily as by his creating hand. They who 
invoke divine power to account for an effect produced, 
should not rashly limit that power to a particular mode 
of its operation. 

Cuvier states that there are three distinct races * of 

1 These three principal varieties include subordinate varieties ; 
and also, by intermixture with each other, produce intermediate 
varieties. The classification of varieties may be extended inde- 
finitely, since no two individuals of the race are precisely alike. 
No one imagines that all these varieties had prototypes in the 
original creation. Many of them have been produced by natu- 
ral causes, and why may not all ? Why is it that while any two 
varieties of mankind may combine to propagate a new variety, no 
one of them combines in like manner with any other species of 
animals ? 

The white man and the negro, the extremes of diversity in 
the human race, have been brought into close proximity in the 
United States ; and it has been demonstrated, by examples with- 
out number, that the two varieties are capable of combining to 
propagate a new variety. It has also been demonstrated by ex- 
amples without number, that the negro is a moral being, and 
capable of making high attainments in Christian piety. Scien- 
tific infidelity may declare that the chimpanzee has not much 
further to progress to become a negro than a negro has to be- 
come a white man ; and that the negro is no more the white 
23* 



268 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

mankind, and tells what parts of the world they re- 
spectively inhabit. The Bible represents all mankind as 
descended from the three sons of Noah, and as dispersed 
through the earth in near agreement with the present 
distribution of the three races. 1 A moral consideration 
drew forth a divine curse on the descendants of Ham : 



man's brother than the owl is the sister of the eagle, or the ass 
is the brother of the horse. But before such a doctrine can be 
admitted to a place among the truths of science, it ought to be 
shown that the negro and the chimpanzee have formed conjugal 
relations; and that a sprightly progeny has been the result of 
their union; and, moreover, that the chimpanzee has moral 
powers susceptible of high culture, and is capable of high at- 
tainments in piety, fitting him for honorable membership in a 
Christian church. 

1 The brief history which is given in the Bible appears to 
authorize the following conclusions respecting the dispersion of 
mankind after the flood. 

The posterity of Ham removed to the south-western part of 
Asia, and passed through the Isthmus of Suez into Africa. 
Egypt, the best known part of Africa, is repeatedly called in 
Scripture " the land of Ham." The posterity of Japheth set- 
tled in the part of Asia which lies between the three seas, the 
Caspian, the Black and the Mediterranean ; and crossing the 
Bosphorus, they took possession of Europe, called "the isles 
[transmarine lands] of the Gentiles." Gen. x. 5. 

The posterity of Shem remained in Asia, and soon filled its 
eastern portion with a numerous population. Shem had united 
with Japheth in filial respect to their father, and received with 
him the father's blessing. It was his portion to have Jehovah 
for his God, and to be the means of preserving the true religion 
in the earth. God accomplished this, not by preserving all his 
descendants from idolatry, but by calling out Abraham from his 
idolatrous kindred, and sending him westward into the promised 
land. The western portion of Shem' s descendants inherited the 
blessing of their father, and falling under the same influences 
that elevated the character of Japheth's descendants, became a 
part in the Caucasian division of the human family. 



UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 269 

and since the providence and moral government of God 
are in harmony with each other, it may be that some 
extraordinary cause was made to impress a physical 
distinction on the race subject to this curse. The 
enlargement prophetically granted to the sons of Japheth 
may have included intellectual elevation ; and by an 
ordering of Providence a seal of this grant may have 
been affixed on the descendants of this patriarch in the 
superior beauty of their persons. But without attempt- 
ing to determine when or how the existing diversity in 
the human species was produced, we may be sure that 
causes sufficient to produce it have at all time's been 
under the control of Divine Providence, and we are, 
therefore, not compelled to refer it to his creating 
power. Hence the legitimate deductions of science do 
not contradict the historical testimony of the Bible 
concerning the original parentage of the human race. 

Though we hold that the varieties in the human race 
have been produced by natural causes, we hold it as a 
doctrine of science, not of theology : but our belief that 
all mankind sprung from Adam rests on higher author- 
ity than that of human science. We believe it on the 
testimony of God. No zoologist claims to have learned 
by his own observation all the facts on which his theories 
are based : but he receives many of them on the testi- 
mony of other men ; and he feels bound to modify his 
theories when a fact inconsistent with them is brought 
to his knowledge through the credible testimony of any 
one. Now, on the question of man's origin, no testi- 
mony can be so important as that of him by whom man 
was created ; and no zoologist who has duly examined 
the evidence that the Bible is the word of God, can 
rationally form theories which contradict the divine 
testimony. Let science demonstrate, if it can, that 



270 HARMONY WITH SCIENCE. 

nature has no powers, either ordinary or extraordinary, 
which are sufficient to produce the existing varieties of 
the human race, and we will then concur with our oppo- 
nents in attributing these varieties to an immediate 
exertion of divine power. But science has never demon- 
strated that creation is the only miracle that God can 
work. If he wills that a human being shall exist of a 
variety which it is beyond the power of nature to pro- 
duce, he can create such a man out of the dust of the 
ground ; but he can as easily accomplish the same by 
miraculously changing a man already in existence. If 
the thing must be referred to the miraculous power of 
God, the testimony of God ought to be allowed to 
decide by whai species of miracle it was effected. When 
scientific infidelity has been compelled to admit the 
agency of the Almighty, it cannot consistently limit his 
mode of operation. 



APPENDIX. 

CHAPTER I. 
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 

1. Section I. Dr. Lardnbr. 

Nathaniel Lardnee, D. D., was a minister of the 
gospel among the Independents. He was born June 
6th 1684, and died July 24th 1768, in the 85th year of 
his age. He was a man of talents and learning ; but 
was unsuccessful as a preacher. He was afflicted with 
so great deafness as to render intercourse with others 
difficult, and his biographer attributes to his deafness a 
defect in his elocution which marred his public speak- 
ing. These circumstances favored the devotion of his 
life to literary pursuits, and it was as an author that he 
gained his high reputation. 

The chief work of Dr. Lardner is, " The Credibility 
of the Gospel History." This he began to publish in 
February, 1727, at which time appeared in two volumes, 
octavo, Part L, which he had besn several years in pre- 
paring. He continued the preparation and publication 
of the work throughout his life, leaving a small portion 
of it to be completed by another hand from the mate- 
rials which he had collected. In this great work he 
collected from all the writings of antiquity, whether 
Christian, Jewish, or Pagan, whatever can throw light 
on the truth of the history contained in the New Testa- 
ment, and on the authenticity of the New Testament 
books. Lardner's volumes have furnished a storehouse 

s (271) 



272 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [1. 

of materials for all later authors who have investigated the 
external evidences of Christianity. Among the English 
Independents, as among the American Congregational- 
ists, many have adopted the Socinian creed. Dr. Lard- 
ner was of this number. It may be regarded as a wise 
arrangement of Providence that a man of his theological 
views should have given to the world the ablest historical 
defence of Christianity. Josephus, an enemy of our 
religion, was raised up by Providence to contribute by 
his writings most reliable information, confirming the 
truth of Christ's predictions ; and Gibbon, an infidel 
historian, has, in like manner, confirmed by his literary 
labors the exact fulfilment of the predictions contained 
in the last book of the New Testament. Dr. Lardner, 
though belonging to that class of professed Christians 
who are least removed from infidelity, has rendered the 
most valuable service in establishing the outworks of 
Christianity. A more fit agent for this service could 
not have been selected. A deist could not have ren- 
dered it consistently with his avowed faith ; and an 
evangelical Christian who should engage in such a work 
would be liable to the charge of being misled by enthu- 
siasm. The coolness of Lardner's judgment will not be 
questioned, and no one has accused him of unfaithful- 
ness in his extracts. 

Section II. Agreement of New Testa- 
ment History with Jewish and Pagan 
Writings. 

the historical statements and allusions incident- 
ally made in the new testament coincide with 
the true history of the times. 

Part I. of Dr. Lardner's Credibility treats of " the 
facts occasionally mentioned in the New Testament," 
and shows that these were " confirmed by passages of 
ancient authors who were contemporary with our Sa- 
viour or his apostles, or lived near their time." This 
part of the Credibility is contained in the first volume 
of Dr. Lardner's Works, and an epitome of it is here 



2.] AGREEMENT OF HISTORIES. 273 

subjoined, in which ninety-six historical facts, taken from 
Josephus, Philo, Tacitus, Suetonius, and other ancient 
authors, are enumerated in one series; and another 
series is added consisting of references to passages of 
Scripture in which the same facts are incidentally stated 
or alluded to. A horizontal line across the page sepa- 
rates these two series from each other ; and by the 
arrangement adopted, a comparison of the history con- 
tained in the New Testament with that obtained from 
other sources is rendered easy ; and the perfect agree- 
ment with respect to these "occasionally-mentioned" 
facts establishes the truth of the sacred history in the 
most satisfactory manner. 

NOTE. 

A. U. is used to signify the year of the city Rome. 

A. D. the year of our Lord ; that is, the year from the birth 
of Christ according to the computation in common use, which 
dates that event in December, A. U. 753, and begins the compu- 
tation the year following, Jan. 1, A. U. 754. Hence in the date 
of any event, if 753 be subtracted from the year of the city, the 
remainder will be the year of our Lord. 

2. I. Princes and Governors. 

1. Herod reigned over Judea from A. u. 714 to 
750 or 751, all the land of Judea being included in 
his dominion. 2. He was very cruel and put 
many to death from a jealousy of being supplanted 
in power. 3. In the latter part of his reign Anti- 
pater, the worst of his sons, participated actively in 
public affairs ; but being detected in a conspiracy to 
poison his father, was put to death by Herod only 
five days before his own decease. 4. At Herod's 
death his kingdom was divided among his sons. 
Galilee fell to Herod Antipas, Idumea to Philip, and 
Judea to Archelaus, who w T as the only one that 
received the title of kino; or was said to reign. 5. 
Archelaus was the worst of all Herod's sons after 
the death of Antipater. 6. On complaint made 
against him to the Roman Emperor by the Jews he 
was banished A. u. 759. 7. Judea then became a 



274 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [2. 

'province governed by Roman procurators. 8. 
Herod the tetrarch, when on a visit to his brother 
Herod Philip, fell in love with his wife Herodias 
and made proposals of marriage, which she accepted. 

9. She had a daughter Salome by her first husband. 

10. Lardner finds no instance about this time that a 
lady of like station with Salome danced at a public 
entertainment. 11. Herodias was full of ambition 
and envy ; and having a mighty influence on Herod, 
was able to persuade him to things to which he was 
not of himself at all inclined. 12. Herod Agrippa, 
grandson of Herod the Great, was made king by 
Caligula, A. D. 37, over the tetrarchies of Philip and 
Lysanias, and afterwards that of Galilee. Claudius 
afterwards added Judea to his dominion. The last 
three years of his life is the only time, after the 
banishment of Archelaus, that Judea was not a 
Roman province, until A. D. 66, when they revolted 
from the Romans. 13. He was much disposed to 
please the Jews. 14:. His death is thus described 
by Josephus : " Having now reigned three whole 
years over all Judea, he went to the city Cesarea. 
Here he celebrated shows in honor of Caesar. On 
this occasion there was a vast resort of persons of 
rank and distinction from all parts of the country. 
On the second day of the shows, early in the 
morning, he came into the theatre, dressed in a 
robe of silver, of most curious workmanship. The 
rays of the rising sun reflected from so splendid a 
garb, gave him a majestic and awful appearance. 
In a short time they began in several parts of the 
theatre flattering acclamations which proved perni- 
cious to him. They called him a god, and entreated 
him to be propitious to them, saying, ' Hitherto we 
have respected you as a man ; but now we acknow- 
ledge you to be more than mortal.' The king neither 
reproved these persons, nor rejected the impious 
flattery. Immediately after this, he was seized with 
pains in his bowels extremely violent at the very first. 

. Then turning himself towards his friends, he spoke 



2.] AGREEMENT OF HISTORIES. 275 

r to them in this manner: 'I, your god, am required 
to leave this world ; fate instantly confuting these 
false applauses just bestowed upon me ; I, who 
have been called immortal, am hurried away to 
death. But God's appointment must be submitted 
to. Nor has our condition in this world been 
despicable ; we have lived in the state which has 
been accounted happy.' While he was speaking 
these words he was oppressed with the increase of 
his pains. He was carried, therefore, with all haste 
to his palace. These pains in his bowels continually 
tormenting him, he expired in five days' time, in the 
fifty-fourth year of his age, and of his reign the 
seventh." 15. The children left by Herod Agrippa 
were Agrippa, then 17 years of age, and three 
daughters, Bernice, who was married to Herod, her 
father's brother, being 16 years of age, Mariamne 
and Drusilla, who were unmarried, the former 10 
years old and Drusilla 6. 10. Felix was governor 
of Judea, and married to Drusilla. 17. He w r as 
wicked, had been guilty of abominable villany, and 
was capable of being bribed. 18. He was succeeded 
in office by Festus. 19. Agrippa was king over some 
other parts of the country which had belonged to the 
family of Herod the Great, but not of Judea. 20. 
H> was trained by his father in the Jews' religion. 



1. Matt. ii. 1 ; Luke i. 5. The true date of 
Christ's birth, according to the best chronologers, is 
at least four years earlier than that assigned to it 
by the reckoning in common use ; and, therefore, it 
occurred before the death of Herod. 2. Matt. ii. 
3-16. 3. Matt. ii. 20. The death of both these 
princes in the short space of six days, accounts for 
the use of the plural pronoun, " they are dead which 
sought the young child's life." 4. Luke, iii. 1 ; 
Matt. ii. 22. 5. The character of Archelaus ac- 
counts for Joseph's going to Galilee, Matt. ii. 22, 
where he was under the dominion of Herod Antipas. 
24 



276 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [3. 

6. The shortness of Archelaus's reign accounts for 
the silence of Scripture respecting hirn except in a 
single passage. 7. Luke, iii. 1. 8. Matt. xiv. 3, 
4 ; Mark, vi. 17 ; Luke, iii. 19. 9. Matt. xiv. 6 ; 
Mark, vi. 22. 10. The unusualness of the dance 
which Herod requested, may account for the high 
remuneration which Herod proposed. 11. Matt. 
xiv. 8, 9; Mark, vi. 24-26. 12. Acts, xii. 1. 13. 
Acts, xii. 3. 14. Acts, xii. 19-23. The agreement 
between Luke and Josephus is here remarkable. 
15. Acts, xxv. 13; xxiv. 24. 16. Acts, xxiii. 24; 
xxiv. 24. 17. Acts, xxiv. 25, 26. 18. Acts, xxiv. 
27 ; xxv. 14. 19. Acts, xxv. 13. The case of 
Paul was not referred to Agrippa as having autho- 
rity in Judea. Acts, xxv. 22, 24 ; xxvi. 31. 20. 
Acts, xxvi. 3. 

3. II. State of the Jews in Judea during the 
Ministry of our Saviour and his Apostles. 

The civil state of the Jews may be considered in four 
periods : — 1. From the preaching of John the Baptist 
to the resurrection of Christ. 2. From the resurrection 
of Christ to the time of Herod the king, mentioned 
Acts, x. 11. 3. During the reign of Herod. 4. From 
the end of his reign to the close of the evangelical his- 
tory. 

The question whether the Jews of Judea had the 
power of life and death demands special attention. It 
is not our inquiry whether Herod of Galilee had this 
power in his dominions : and the illegal exercise of this 
power by mobs or violent men does not enter into the 
consideration. 

First Period. 



21. Pontius Pilate governed Judea from A. D. 26 
to a. D. 36. 22. The Romans were accustomed to 
grant to the nations that they conquered the free 
exercise of their own religions. 23. The Jews had 
the regulation of marriage. 24. Excommunication 
from the synagogue, and beating, were punishments 



3.] AGREEMENT OF HISTORIES. 277 

the Jews were allowed to inflict. 25. Tribute was 
paid to Cresar, and his coin was in circulation. 26. 
The Jews had a council which issued orders to 
apprehend persons whom they thought worthy of 
capital punishment ; but they had not the power of 
inflicting capital punishment, when they were under 
provincial government, this 'power being vested in 
.the governor. 



21. Between these dates, a. d. 26 and A. D. 36, 
and therefore under the government of Pilate, oc- 
curred the whole ministry of John the Baptist and 
of Christ. Luke, iii. 1, 2 ; Matt, xxvii. 15, 17. 
22. It is apparent throughout the New Testament 
that the Jews attended their religious festivals, wor- 
shipped at the temple, and in their synagogues, 
made collections for religious service, and in all 
respects enjoyed unrestricted freedom of religion. 
That Pilate mingled the blood of some worshippers 
with their sacrifices was an exception to the general 
rule. Luke, ii. 42 ; John, iv. 45 ; Acts, ii. 46 ; iii. 
2 ; Matt. xiii. 54 ; Acts, xv. 21 ; Mark, vii. 11, 12 
Luke, xiii. 1 ; Matt. viii. 4 ; Luke, v. 14 ; Luke 
xiii. 1. 23. Matt. v. 31, 32; xix. 3, 10; Mark 
x. 2-9. 24. John, ix. 22 ; Acts, xxii. 19 ; xxvi 
11. 25. Mark, xii. 15-20; Luke, xx. 20-24. 26 
Matt. xii. 14; John, v. 15-18; vii. 1, 25, 32; x 
39; xi. 45, 47, 53; xii. 10. Jesus was appre 
hended by the order of the Jewish council, with the 
band of Roman soldiers, and was brought first to 
trial before the council, but afterwards taken to 
Pilate. Matt. xxvi. 3, 4, 14, 16; John, xviii. 3; 
Luke, xxii. 52 ; John, xviii. 12, 13 ; Matt. xxvi. 57, 
59, 60 ; Mark, xiv. 64 ; Matt, xxvii. 1, 2 ; Mark, xiv. 
1 ; Luke, xxiii. 1 ; John, xviii. 28, 29. Pilate 
judged him innocent, but gave sentence against 
him to gratify the Jews. Luke, xxiii. 4-8, 13-16, 
17-24. We may here notice that the only charge 
on which Jesus was condemned was that of blasphemy 
in claiming to be the Son of God, and this was an 



278 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [3. 

r offence against the Jewish law. John, xix. 7. But 
though he was condemned by the council for this the 
sentence was passed by Pilate, John, xix. 15-19, 
and his soldiers executed it. Matt, xxvii. 27, 28. 
These soldiers were under his command exclusively, 
and responsible to him. Matt, xxviii. 11-14. The 
Jews expressly declared that they had not the 
power to put any one to death. John, xviii. 31. But 
Pilate claims this power. John, xix. 10. The Jews 
had endeavored to ensnare Christ by inducing him 
to sanction the infliction of capital punishment, con- 
trary to the restriction which they were under. 
John, viii. 6, 7, 9. 



Second Period. 

27. The latter part of Pilate's administration was 
weak through fear of the Jews, and he was finally 
removed from office on complaint made by them to 
the emperor. Judea then became annexed to the 
province of Syria, and was governed by its presi- 
dents, Vitellius and Petronius, of whom the former 
was much inclined to favor the Jews. 28. Under 
Petronius the Jews had much trouble, which began 
in an order of the Emperor Caligula to have his 
image set up in the temple at Jerusalem. 

27. The weakness of Pilate and the indulgence 
of Vitellius gave opportunity for the Jews to 
persecute the Christians. Acts, iv. 1-9-30. 28. 
The troubles under Petronius engrossed the atten- 
tion of the Jews, and gave a season of rest to the 
Christians. Acts, ix. 31. The conversion of Saul, 
Acts, ix. 3-18, could not have been the sole cause 
of this relief ; for there were other persecutors, men 
of age and authority. He was himself afterwards 
sorely persecuted by the Jews. 

In this period no mention of a Roman governor is 
found in the New Testament. The Jewish council 
apprehended the apostles, bound them, put them in 



3.1 AGREEMENT OF HISTORIES. 279 

'the common prison, beat tliera publicly, and took 
counsel to slay them, but it does not follow that they 
could have legally put them to death by their own 
authority, since they did as much with respect to 
Jesus. Acts, iv. 7-21; v. 17, 18, 41. Stephen 
was brought before the council, witnesses were 
heard, and he made a defence, but the opinions of 
the council w r ere not asked, or a sentence pronounced 
as in other cases recorded. He w T as stoned by the 
enraged multitude without legal condemnation. 
Acts, vi. 8-15 ; vii. 1-60. Saul persecuted the 
saints with authority from the Sanhedrim, according 
to which he imprisoned them, beat them in the syna- 
gogues, and pursued them to distant places. He 
desired to procure their death, though he may not 
have been concerned in the killing of any but Ste- 
phen. It does not follow that the council claimed 
the right of putting to death without higher autho- 
rity. Acts, viii. 1, 3; ix. 1, 2, 13, 14; xxii. 4, 5, 

.19, 20; xxvi. 9-13. 

Third Period. 

29. This period was during the reign of Herod 
Agrippa, who of course held the power of life and 
death. 

Fourth Period. 

30. After Herod's death Judea again became a 
province, and was governed as it had been under 
Pilate. 31. The governors resided at Cesarea. 

29. Acts, xii. 1-19. 30. Acts, xxiii. 24. 31. 
Acts, xxiii. 23, 24 ; xxv. 4. In the fourth period, 
which followed the death of Herod Agrippa, oc- 
curred the persecution of Paul by the Jewish coun- 
cil, in which it is apparent that the council merely 
brought the accusation, and that the right of judg- 
ment belonged to the Roman governor who might 
have set Paul at liberty if he had not appealed to 
Caesar. Acts, xxi. 26,. 34 ; xxii. 22, 23, 24-30 ; 
xxiii. 1-5, 35; xxiv. 1-22, 27 ; xxv. 1-9; xxiii. 6, 

58; 

24 



280 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [5. 



4. III. State oe the Jews out of Judea. 

32. The Jews were scattered abroad in almost 
every place in Europe and Asia, and the islands of 
the Mediterranean. 33. The Jews were accustomed 
in various places to have assemblies for religious 
worship on the shore of rivers or of the sea. 34. 
Synagogues were numerous in Jerusalem. Many 
of them were built by Jews living in distant coun- 
tries to be for their special use when attending the 
feasts, and also academies were connected with them 
for the education of their children in their religion. 
35. Many Jews were taken to Rome as slaves and 
afterwards set free : these and their children were 
called "Libertines." 30. The Jews were zealous to 
make proselytes to their religion, and sometimes 
proselyted persons of distinction. 37. There were 
many proselytes at Antioch. 



c 
u 



32. Acts, ii. 5. Frequent mention is made in the 
Acts of the Apostles that they preached in the 
synagogues of distant cities. 33. Acts, xvi. 13. 
34. John, ix. 22. Acts, vi. 9. 35. Acts, vi. 9. 
36. Matt, xxiii. 15. Acts, ii. 10; xiii. 43; viii. 
26-28. 37. Acts, vi. 5. 



5. IV. Jewish Sects and the Samaritans. 

38. The Pharisees and the Sadclucees were the prin- 
cipal sects among the Jews. 39. They were much 
opposed to each other. 40. The Pharisees had 
great influence with the common people and some- 
|£ times abused it. 41. The Sadducees had much 
e influence with the rich. 42. The Pharisees were 
strict in interpreting the law, and in the practice of 
religious duties. Tney observed traditions not con- 
tained in the law. They believed in the immortality 
of the soul, and future resurrection ; and some of 
them in the transmigration of souls. 43. The Sad- 
ducees, though less numerous, shared with the Pha- 
risees in the administration of public affairs, and 



.] AGREEMENT OF HISTORIES. 281 

'were more inclined to severity. 44. The high priest 
was sometimes of the sect of the Sadducees. 45. 
The common people were never called Pharisees, 
though adopting the principles of the sect. 46. 
There were men honored by the people as skilful 
interpreters of the law, from whom the young 
received instruction. 47. The Herodians, not enu- 
merated as a distinct religious sect, were adherents 
of Herod. 48. The Essenes were few and lived in 
seclusion, and though they sent sacrifices to the 
temple, did not worship in person. 49. The Sama- 
ritans held Mount Gerizim in high honor, and be- 
tween them and the Jews there was much enmity. 



88. Acts, xxvi. 5. Matt. xvi. 1 ; xxii. 23. 39. 
Acts, xxiii. 6-10. 40. Matt, xxiii. 14. Mark, xii. 
38-40. Luke, xx. 46. 41. Acts, v. 17. 42. Matt. 
v. 20 ; ix. 14. Mark, vii. 3, 4, 9, 13. Luke, xviii. 
12. John, ix. 2. Acts, xxiii. 8 ; xxvi. 58. 43. 
Acts, xxiii. 6; v. 17. 44. Acts, v. 17. 45. Matt, 
xxiii. 4. 46. Matt. ii. 4 ; vii. 29. Luke, xi. 46. 47. 
Matt. xxii. 16. Mark, iii. 6; viii.15; xii. 13. 48. 
Because of the seclusion in which the Essenes lived 
they had no intercourse with Christ, and hence no 
notice of them appears in the gospel history. John, 
xviii. 19, 20. 49. John, iv. 5-9, 20: viii. 48; 
Luke, ix. 53. 



6. V. Expectations of the Jews and Samaritans, 

AND THEIR IDEAS OF THE MESSIAH. 

50. The Jews were at this time in great expecta- 
tion of the Messiah as a powerful temporal deliverer. 
51. The Jews expected the Messiah to show some 
sign of deliverance. 52. The Samaritans also were 
at this time in expectation of some extraordinary 
divine interposition. 53. The Messiah was expected 
to be a prophet. 



282 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [8. 

50. John, i. 19, 20. Luke, Hi. 15 ; ii. 25, 26 ; ix. 

46 ; Matt. xx. 21. John, vi. 14, 15. Matt. xxi. 8, 9. 

John, xii. 13. 51. John, xx. 30. Acts, ii. 22. Matt. 
H xii. 38 ; xvi. 1. John, vi. 30. 1 Cor. i. 22. 52. John, 
K liv. 25, 26, 29, 42. 58. John, vi. 14, 15. * 

7. VI. The Corruption op the Jewish People. 

Ph f 54. Avarice, cruelty, violence, impiety, hypocrisy, 
c -J and all kinds of wickedness prevailed at this time 
^ [among the people. 

H ( 54. Matt. iii. 7 ; xii. 39. John, viii. 40-44. Matt. 
£ X xxiii. 5-23 ; xxi. 13. 

8. VII. Circumstances op our Saviour's Last 

Sufferings. 

55. Joseph, who was called Caiaphas, was high 
priest all the time that Pilate was in Judea. 56. 
Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea ten years be- 
fore the death of Tiberius, and was removed by 
Vitellius A. D. 37. 57. Governors were at this time 
permitted to take their wives with them into their 
provinces, contrary to the usage during the con- 
tinuance of the Roman commonwealth. 58. Herod 
the tetrarch, being a Jew, attended the feasts at Jeru- 
salem. 59. The high priests sometimes rent their 
clothes on extraordinary occasions. 60. There were 
persons called chief priests, besides the individual 
who held at the time the office of high priest. 61. 
Though the Roman procurators lived at Cesarea, 
they were wont to be in Jerusalem for the preserva- 
tion of order at the time of the feasts, especially of 
the Passover. 62. Pilate on diiferent occasions found 
the Jews zealously and firmly attached to their law 
and disposed to rebel against his authority : and his 
consciousness of wrongs done in the administration 
of his government made him fear lest he should be 
accused to the emperor. 63. Judea belonged to the 
province of Syria, but had its own governor or pro- 
. curator who possessed the power of life and death. 



8.] AGREEMENT OF HISTORIES. 283 

64:. It was customary to affix " titles" to instruments 
of punishment setting forth the crimes for which the 
condemned suffered. 65. It was usual at this time 
to set up advertisements written in different lan- 
guages, that they might be read by all. 66. Indig- 
nities to condemned persons, and ridicule by mock 
emblems of royalty, occurred in these times. 67. 
Scourging before the infliction of capital punishment 
was usual. 68. It was the constant practice among 
the Romans for malefactors to carry the cross on 
which they were to be crucified. 69. To go out of 
a city for the infliction of capital punishment was 
conformable with Jewish and Roman custom. 70. 
The burial of persons put to death was required by 
Jewish law and usage, and was usually granted by 
the Romans. 71. It was customary with the Jews 
to embalm the bodies of dead persons with abundant 
.use of spices. 

55. Matt. xxvi. 3, 57. John, xviii. 13, 24-28. 56. 

Luke, iii. 1, 2 ; xiii. 1. Matt, xxvii. 2. Luke, xxiii. 
12. John, xviii. 33. 1 Tim. vi. 13. 57. Matt, xxvii. 
19. 58. Luke, xxiii. 7. 59. Matt. xxvi. 63-65. 
60. Matt. xxvi. 59. Mark, xiv. 53. 61. Matt, xxvii. 
2. Mark, xv. 1. Luke, xxiii. 1. John, xviii. 29, 
39. 62. Pilate feared the resentment of the Jews, 
if he did not execute on Jesus the sentence of their 
council. Matt, xxvii. 18. Luke, xxiii. 23. John, 
xviii. 33, 36-38. John, xix. 1-8, 12. Luke, xxiii. 
23-25. Mark, xv. 15. Matt, xxvii. 24, 25. 63. 
John, xix. 7. John, xviii. 29, 30 ; xix. 10, 16. The 
peculiarity above stated would very probably have 
escaped the notice of a writer who in a subsequent 
age should have attempted to forge a history of 
Christ's life. It is therefore an important proof 
that the Gospels were written by persons who lived 
at the time of which they give the history. 64. 
John, xix. 20. 65. John, xix. 20. Luke, xxiii. 
38. 66. Matt. xxvi. 67, 68. Luke, xxiii. 11. Matt, 
xxvii. 27-31. Mark, xv. 16-20. 67. Matt, xxvii. 
26. Mark, xv. 15. 68. Mark. xv. 21. John, xix. 



284 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [10. 

r 16, IT. Luke, xxiii. 26. 09. Matt, xxvii. 31-33. 

Mark, xv. 20-22. Luke, xxiii. 26-33. John, xix. 17, 

20. Hebrews, xiii. 12. 70. Matt, xxvii. 58-60. 

Mark, xv. 45, 46. Luke, xxiii. 50-53. John, xix. 

31, 38-40. 71. John, xix. 39, 40. Mark, xvi. 1. 
. Luke, xxiii. 55, 56 ; xxiv. 1. 

9. VIII. Treatment of Christians by Jews and 

Gentiles. 

72. The Jews regarded the Christians with bitter 
hatred. 73. The Romans, who were accustomed to 
grant to conquered nations the free exercise of their 
religions, on this general principle, and by express 
"■j decrees of the Senate, protected the Jews in their 
^ religious observances. There was nothing which 
i the Romans regarded so necessary to the peace of 
the empire as the toleration of all religions. 74. 
The Roman laws prohibited the worship of new gods. 

72. Acts, xvii. 5-9, 13 ; xviii. 12 ; xxii. 22 ; xxiv. 
1; xxv. 2, 3. 1 Thess. ii. 14, 15. Gal. v. 11. 
Acts, xiv. 19 ; xx. 3 ; vii. 54. 73. Acts, xviii. 14- 
16 ; xix. 24-40 ; xxiv. 22, 23 ; xxv. 18, 19 ; xxvi. 
31, 32; xxyiii. 16, 30, 31. 74. The Christians 
worshipped the same God as the Jews. Hence Paul's 
defence, "so worship I the God of my fathers," 
Acts, xxiv. 14, w T as valid. The Roman government 
had tolerated the different sects among the Jews, 
and the Christians were regarded as a Jewish sect 
by the Roman governors : Acts, xvi. 20. Paul was 
charged at Athens as being a setter forth of strange 
gods, Acts, xvii. 18, but he skilfully defended him- 
self as the worshipper of the unknown God to whom 
they had an altar consecrated : verse 23. 

10. IX. Opinions and Practices of the Jews. 

75. The Jews from distant countries attended 

their feasts at Jerusalem, especially the feast of the 

Passover, and so great was the number that at one 

, feast, there were computed to be present two million 



10.] AGREEMENT OF HISTORIES. 285 

•seven hundred thousand persons duly qualified to 
partake of the feast, besides uncircumcised proselytes 
and other unclean persons. Another estimate made 
the whole number present three millions. 76. They 
who were in Jerusalem went frequently to the temple 
to worship. 77. The third and ninth hours of the 
day were stated times of prayer. 78. The Jews 
were exceedingly zealous for the honor and sanctity 
of the temple. 79. The Jews had great respect for 
the law, and could not tolerate indignity offered to 
it. 80. They were wont to worship in their syna- 
gogues every sabbath, and in this service the Scrip- 
tures were read, and discourses delivered. 81. The 
Nazarites' vow spoken of in Num. vi. 18 was observed 
and was completed by offerings made in the temple. 

82. The number of stripes inflicted as a legal punish- 
ment was by Jewish usage limited to thirty-nine. 

83. It was held that zeal for virtue and religion 
might justify private persons in killing without legal 
trial, those who were guilty of idolatry, and other 
flagrant offences against the divine law ; and might 
even require them to do so. An example of this 
private zeal was a conspiracy of ten persons to kill 
Herod. 84. The paying of tribute to the Romans 
was grievous to the Jews, and hence they disliked 
the publicans who collected this tribute. 85. Many 
of the publicans were Jews, and some of them were 
virtuous men. 

75. John, iv. 45 ; vii. 1-4 ; xi. 55, 56 ; xii. 12, 13, 

27. Acts, ii. 5. John, vii. 30 ; xii. 20. 76. Acts, ii. 
46 ; iii. 1-9 ; v. 20-25. 77. Acts, ii. 13, 15 ; iii. 1- 
9. 78. Acts, vi. 13 ; xxi. 27, 28-32. 79. Acts, xxi. 

28. 80. Luke, iv. 17-20. Acts, xv. 21. Matt. xiii. 
54. Mark, i. 21. Acts, xiv. 1. 81. 'Acts, xviii. 18 ; 
xxi. 23, 24, 26. 82. 2 Cor. xi. 24. 83. Luke, iv. 
28, 29. John, viii. 59. Acts, xx. 3 ; xxi. 27-31 ; 
xxiii. 10-15 ; xxv. 1-3. 84. Matt. xxii. 17 ; Mark, 
xii. 14. Luke, xx. 21, 22 ; xix. 2, 7. 85. Luke, iii. 
12. Matt. xxi. 31, 32. Luke, v. 29. Matt. ix. 10. 

.Mark, ii. 14. Luke, xix. 2, 8. 



286 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [11. 



11. X. Roman Customs. 

80. The Romans examined suspected persons by 
torture. 87. Scourging was used in such examina- 
tions ; but it was not allowed to scourge a Roman 
citizen. Condemnation and punishment were not 
allowed without trial. 88. Citizenship was fre- 
quently conferred on Jews. 80. Citizenship was 
given for money, and as a reward for services. 00. 
The presence of both the accused and the accuser 
was required at trial. 91. A Roman citizen, though 
he might not be bound with thongs for the purpose 
of being scourged, might be bound with chains for 
the purpose of confinement. The method was to 
chain the hand of the prisoner to the arm of a 
soldier. The degree of confinement was dependent 
on the nature and evidence of the prisoner's crime, 
and other circumstances. 92. The Emperor Augus- 
tus appointed consular persons at Rome to receive 
appeals from the provinces. Persons were frequently 
sent from Judea and Samaria to Rome for trial. 
93. Prisoners sent from the provinces were usually 
committed to the captain of the guard, and not to 
the prefect of the city. 



' 86. Acts, xxii. 24, 25. 87. Acts, xvi. 22-37, 
xxv. 16. 88. Acts, xxii. 26-29 ; xxi. 37-39, xxii. 
3. 89. Acts, xxii. 28. 90. Acts, xxiii. 33-35, 
xxiv. 7, 8 ; xxv. 4, 5, 14-16. 91. Paul's confine- 
ment underwent several changes, and was at last 
greatly mitigated in Rome. Acts, xxi. 32, 33 ; 
xxii. 30 ; xxvi. 29, 28 ; xvi. 20, 23. 2 Tim. i. 16. 
Acts, xii. 6 ; xxiv. 23 ; xxviii. 16, 23, 30. 92. 
Acts, xxv. 10, 11, 24, 25. 93. Acts, xxvii. 1; 
xxviii. 16. 



13.] AGREEMENT OF HISTORIES. 287 



12. XI. Three Remarkable Facts. 

94. Herod the Great began the repair of the 
temple, and the work was continued after his time, 
in all more than forty-six years. 95. A famine 
oppressed the land of Judea in the fourth, fifth, 
and sixth years of Claudius, and extended to seve- 
ral other countries. 96. Claudius expelled the 
Jews from Rome. 

94. John, ii. 14-20. 95. Acts, xi. 27-30. " The 
whole world" should be rendered " the whole land." 
The connection shows the land of Judea to be in- 
tended, and contributions for relief were obtained 
from other places which were exempt from the 
I famine. 96. Acts, xviii. 1, 2. 



13. XII. Alleged Disagreements. 

I. It has been alleged by opposers of revelation that 
no general taxing of the Roman Empire, in the reign 
of Augustus, as stated in Luke ii. 1, 2, has been 
noticed by any Greek or Roman historian. 

Lardner thinks that the phrase " all the world" 1 
should be rendered " all the land," meaning all the 
territory included under the reign of Herod the Great. 
The word " all" was appropriately used because of the 
division of this land after the death of Herod. It is 
not surprising that Greek and Roman authors should 
omit the mention of the census or assessment of Judea : 
but it is probable, as will be shown hereafter, that 
Josephus refers to it ; and it is mentioned by Justin, 
Tertullian, and the Emperor Julian. 

II. It has been further alleged that the authority 

1 If Luke used the phrase to signify " all the Roman Empire," 
the widest sense that any critic contends for, it is still most pro- 
bable that the actual enrolment which he mentions as made 
when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, intends no more than the 
fulfilment of the imperial decree in the land of Israel, the coun- 
try with ichich the sacred historian was concerned. 
25 t 



288 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [13. 

of Herod in his kingdom precluded the taxing of his 
subjects by the Roman government. 

The word employed by Luke denotes an enrolment 
or census. The Roman census included : 1. A report 
given by individuals of their family and possessions ; 
and, 2. An estimate by the censor of the value of these 
possessions. The term used by Luke denotes an entry, 
and does not determine whether it was of property or 
persons. A passage in Josephus probably refers to 
this census, describing it as an oath of fidelity taken by 
the people, in which 6000 of the Pharisees did not 
unite. Herod, in the latter part of his reign, fell under 
the displeasure of Augustus, and the decree of a census 
was an indignity to which he quietly submitted. The 
six thousand Pharisees were fined ; and, by explanations 
made to the emperor as to the cause of his displeasure, 
he was appeased. Hence it is probable that the taxa- 
tion, if intended, was not carried into effect. The oath 
of fidelity mentioned by Josephus required an entry or 
record of the names, since the number that declined is 
specified. The entry implied in Josephus's account, 
even if it had no respect to taxation, states all that 
Luke's words express. 

III. Cyrenius was not the president of Syria until 
after the banishment of Archelaus. He was then sent 
to make a census, but the time was ten or twelve years 
after the birth of Christ ; and hence infidels allege that 
Luke's statement is incorrect. 

It is unquestionable that an enrolment was made by 
Cyrenius after the banishment of Archelaus. This 
enrolment is referred to by Gamaliel, Acts v. 37, and 
Josephus gives an account of it in exact agreement with 
that of Gamaliel. As Luke has recorded Gamaliel's 
speech, he must be supposed to have known the facts 
concerning the taxing and the opposition made to it by 
Judas and his party, all which are cited by Gamaliel as 
facts well known. The enrolment which Luke men- 
tions in his Gospel, he distinguishes as the "first;" and 
it is manifest from the context that it was made during 
the reign of Herod ; yet it seems to have been con- 



13.] AGREEMENT OF HISTORIES. 289 

nected in some way with the province of Syria. If it 
had nothing to do with the government or governor 
of Syria, it is strange that the evangelist, in describing 
an enrolment of Herod's subjects, should have adopted 
the method which he has employed for fixing the date 
of the event. In what way the enrolment was con- 
nected with the governor of Syria it is not easy to 
determine. If this were ascertained, the whole diffi- 
culty in the passage would probably vanish. 

Lardner translates the passage in Luke thus : " This 
was the first assessment of Cyrenius, governor of Syria." 
He thinks that Cyrenius was not governor of Syria at 
the time of making the assessment ; and that the title 
affixed by the evangelist was designed merely to iden- 
tify him as the person bearing this name who afterwards 
became governor of Syria. Campbell, in his " Four 
Gospels," translates the passage thus : " This first 
register took effect when Cyrenius was president of 
Syria." He thinks that the purpose for which it was 
begun in the clays of Herod was not at that time 
carried into effect ; and that after such corrections 
of the register as had become necessary, the purpose 
was accomplished when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. 

Lardner has shown that there is no improbability in 
supposing Cyrenius to have conducted the first enrol- 
ment ; and a passage which he has quoted from Josephus 
styles both Saturninus and Volumnius governors of Sy- 
ria, though the latter was at the time only the procura- 
tor of the revenue. If Augustus had it in view to take 
Herod's kingdom from him, and annex his dominions to 
the province of Syria, as was afterwards done in the 
case of Herod's son, Archelaus, it is not improbable 
that Cyrenius, when commissioned to take the census 
of Herod's subjects, was constituted assistant-governor 
of Syria, or procurator of the revenue, at least so far 
as concerned the contemplated addition to the province. 
The same man was afterwards, on the banishment of 
Archelaus, sent to perform the same service or to com- 
plete what he had previously begun ; and on this second 
mission from the emperor, he acted as governor of Sy- 



290 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [13. 

ria. The facts as we have supposed them accord with 
the most literal interpretation of Luke's words, which 
may be rendered, " This was the first enrolment of 
Cyrenius governing Syria," or, "This was the first en- 
rolment, Cyrenius governing Syria." 1 In this brief 
parenthetical sentence, the purpose of the evangelist 
did not require him to notice the change in the extent 
of Cyrenius's power from assessment governor to sole 
governor. Indeed there was no change so far as con- 
cerned the taking of the census, for in this he acted as 
procurator of the revenue, even while invested with the 
sole government of the province. The words best agree 
with the supposition that both enrolments were conducted 
by him in the execution of his office as procurator of 
Syria. No difficulty can justly arise from the silence 
of other historians respecting the agency of Cyrenius 
in the incipient and ineffectual enrolment, since the en- 
rolment itself has received from them no other notice 
than the obscure one of Josephus, who has not mentioned 
in any way the Roman officer to whom it was intrusted. 

IV. Infidels allege that Josephus and all other his- 
torians omit any mention of the slaughter of infants at 
Bethlehem. Matt. ii. 16. 

The history of Herod's acts of cruelty as given by 
Josephus and others, and especially of his murder of 
persons whom his jealousy of power rendered objects of 
dread, corresponds with the horrid massacre that Mat- 
thew has described. No historian records everything, 
and the silence of each as to some facts is no objection 
to the narrations of others. Josephus could not have re- 
corded this event without favoring the Christians more 
than he desired. 



1 If the preposition "of" be omitted in the translation, it will 
still be naturally supplied in the interpretation. The omission 
of it makes the Avords " Cyrenius governing" the case absolute, 
which might, as in Luke iii. 1, merely fix the date of the event, 
if the event were not an act pertaining to the government of 
Syria. To fix the date of an act which a Syrian governor might 
be expected to perform, by naming the individual who was in 
office at the time, naturally implies that he was the agent. 



13.] AGREEMENT OF HISTORIES. 291 

V. The silence of Josephus as to those whose blood 
Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, has been noticed by 
infidels as an objection to the statement in Luke xiii. 1. 

It is a sufficient answer to this objection that silence 
is not contradiction. 

VI. Infidels allege that Jesus was born a consider- 
able time before the death of Herod, and that in the 
fifteenth year of Tiberius his age was considerably more 
than that ascribed to him by Luke. Luke iii. 1, 23. 

After careful examination of facts the conclusion 
of Dr. Lardner is that the birth of Jesus occurred 
about eighteen months before the death of Herod ; and 
about September, 748 or 749, a. u. c. The years of 
Tiberius may be reckoned from his being made a col- 
league of Augustus. 

Another solution is, that the words of Luke were evi- 
dently designed not to give the precise age of Jesus. He 
expresses it in round numbers with the qualifying word 
about. It may be therefore that he was thirty two or 
three years old. 

Either of these solutions suffices for the removal of 
the difficulty. 

VII. Luke says, " Annas and Caiaphas being high 
priests :" Luke iii. 2 ; but infidels allege that there was 
only one high priest at a time. 

It is clear from Josephus that there were in other 
cases two persons who held the highest authority under 
the Romans at the same time. Annas had been high 
priest, and being father-in-law to Caiaphas is first named, 
and the two held the places of highest authority. 

VIII. Infidels allege that Herodias was the wife, not 
of Philip the tetrarch, but of Herod, an untitled brother 
residing in Jerusalem. Matt. xiv. 3; Mark vi. 17; 
Luke iii. 19. 

The evangelists do not affirm that Herodias had been 
the wife of Philip the tetrarch. No one of them affixes 
the title, as all of them would probably have done if 
this had been the person intended. The untitled 
brother had both names, Herod Philip. His injurious 
brother, the tetrarch of Galilee, was Herod Antipas. 
25* 



292 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [13. 

IX. Infidels allege that Theudas, mentioned by Gama- 
liel, Acts, v. 34, 36, did not, according to Josephus, rise up 
until several years after the time when Gamaliel spoke. 

The Theudas mentioned by Gamaliel and the Theudas 
mentioned by Josephus, were different persons. The 
name was not uncommon. There were several impostors 
who had the name Simon, and three of the name Judas 
within ten years. Several impostors arose about the 
time of Herod's death whose names are not given by 
Josephus. The Theudas of Gamaliel had four hundred 
followers, that of Josephus "a great multitude." The 
points of agreement between the two are fewer and less 
remarkable than between two impostors named Simon, 
of whom Josephus gives an account. 

X. Infidels allege that the number stated by Luke, 
Acts xxi. 38, of those who adhered to the Egyptian im- 
postor differs widely from that mentioned by Josephus. 

Josephus has given two accounts of this affair in 
which the numbers differ greatly from each other, as 
well as from that given by the chief captain in the 
words recorded by Luke. The three accounts refer to 
different times in the progress of the transaction. The 
impostor came from Egypt to Jerusalem, and there suc- 
ceeded in gaining four thousand followers whom he led 
out into the wilderness. Having at length increased 
the number to thirty thousand, he returned to Mount 
Olivet, where he was attacked by Felix. Most of the 
company deserted, but a party fled with the impostor, 
of whom four hundred were killed, and two hundred 
taken prisoners. All the accounts are thus harmonized ; 
and in many particulars the agreement of Josephus and 
the chief captain is remarkable. 

Section III. Christian Testimonies. 

THE PRINCIPAL FACTS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ARE 
CONFIRMED BY THE TESTIMONY OF ANCIENT CHRIS- 
TIAN WRITERS. 

The first part of Dr. Lardner's " Credibility" treats 
of facts "occasionally mentioned" in the New Testa- 



14.] C H R I S T I A H TESTIMONIES. 293 

merit. The second part treats of the "principal facts" 
on which Christianity is founded. This part of the 
" Credibility" fills seven volumes, in which testimonies 
are adduced from Christians, Jews, Heathens, and Here- 
tics. To each of these classes of testimony a section is 
devoted in this chapter ; and therefore the present sec- 
tion with the three following, will exhibit these testimo- 
nies as far as I have thought it needful to introduce 
them into this small volume. In many cases where the 
testimonies would have occupied too much space, a con- 
densed view of them is given in extracts from Lardner's 
observations on them. The testimonies are everywhere 
given in Lardner's translation and the observations in 
Lardner's words, except where matter is added in 
brackets. From all the earlier writers Lardner has 
copied out at length their quotations of Scripture and 
their allusions to passages of Scripture ; and has placed 
over against them in a parallel column, for the sake of 
convenient comparison, the words of Scripture quoted 
or alluded to. These quotations and allusions give 
abundant proof that the books of the New Testament 
were well known to the Christian writers, and highly 
respected by them : but, for the sake of brevity, I have 
selected one or more of the passages from each writer 
as a specimen, and have subjoined after the letter N. the 
number of such quotations and allusions found in his 
writings by Lardner. Thus, in the short notice which 
follows of the Epistle of Barnabas, only one quotation 
made by him from the New Testament appears ; but 
nineteen others are given by Lardner, making the whole 
number twenty. 

14. Barnabas [the companion of Paul], A. D. 71. 
" Let us therefore beware, lest it should happen to us 
as it is written: 1 There are many called, few chosen." 
N. 20. 

[In an epistle of Barnabas, the companion of Paul, 
probably genuine, certainly belonging to that age, we 
have (a) the sufferings of Christ, his choice of apostles 

1 Matt. xx. 16. 



294 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [15. 

and their number, his passion, the scarlet robe, the 
vinegar and gall, the mocking and piercing, the casting 
lots for his coat, his resurrection on the eighth (i. e., 
the first day of the week), and the commemorative dis- 
tinction of that day, his manifestation after his resur- 
rection, and, lastly, his ascension. We have also his 
miracles generally, but positively referred to in the fol- 
lowing words : " Finally, teaching the people of Israel, 
and doing many wonders and signs among them, he 
preached to them, and showed the exceeding great love 
which he bare towards them." — Paley.~] 

15. Clement [mentioned in Phil. iv. 3], a. d. 96. 
" Take into your hands the epistle of the blessed Paul 
the apostle. What did he at the first write to you in 
the beginning of the gospel ? Verily, he did by the 
Spirit admonish you concerning himself, and Cephas, 
and Apollos, because that even then you did form 
parties. 1 ' And let us do as it is written : 2 For thus 
saith the Holy Spirit, Let not the wise man glory in his 
wisdom.' Especially remembering the words of the Lord 
Jesus, which he spake, teaching gentleness and long- 
suffering. For thus he said: 'Be ye merciful, that ye 
may obtain mercy ; 3 forgive, that it may be forgiven 
unto you. 4 As you do, so shall it be done unto you ; 
as you give, so shall it be given unto you ; 5 as ye judge, 
so shall you be judged ; as ye show kindness, so shall 
kindness be shown unto you ; with what measure ye 
mete, with the same shall it be measured to you.' By 
this command, and by these rules, let us establish our- 
selves, that we may always walk obediently to his holy 
words." N. 44. 

[In an epistle of Clement, a hearer of St. Paul, 
although written for a purpose remotely connected with 
the Christian history, we have (a) the resurrection of 
Christ and the subsequent mission of the apostles re- 
corded in these satisfactory terms : " The apostles have 
preached to us from our Lord Jesus Christ from God ; 

1 1 Cor. i. 12. 2 Jer. ix. 23, 24. 

3 Luke, vi. 3G. 4 Verse 37. 

5 Ver.se 38. 



17.] CHRISTIAN TESTIMONIES. 295 

for, having received their command, and being thoroughly- 
assured by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
they went abroad publishing that the kingdom of God 
was at hand." (Ep. Clem. Rom. cxliii.) We find no- 
ticed also the humility, yet the power of Christ (Ep. 
Clem. Rom. cxvi.), his descent from Abraham, his cru- 
cifixion. We have (b) Peter and Paul represented as 
faithful and righteous pillars of the church ; the nu- 
merous sufferings of Peter; the bonds, stripes, and 
stoning of Paul, and, more particularly, his extensive 
and unwearied travels. — Paley.~\ 

16. Hermas [mentioned in Romans, xvi. 14], A. D. 
100. " Happy are ye T whosoever shall endure the 
great trial that is at hand, and whosoever shall not deny 
his life. For the Lord has sworn by his Son, that who- 
soever shall deny his Son, and him, being afraid of his 
life, they will also deny him in the world that is to 
come. But those who shall never deny him, of his 
great mercy he will be favorable to them." 1 N. 42. 

17. Ignatius, a. d. 107. " Baptized of John, that all 
righteousness might be fulfilled by him." 2 " Be wise as 
a serpent in all things, and harmless as a dove." 3 N. 48. 

[In the remaining works of Ignatius, the contemporary 
of Polycarp, larger than those of Polycarp (yet, like those 
of Polycarp, treating of subjects in no wise leading to any 
recital of the Christian history), the occasional allusions 
are proportionally more numerous, (a) The descent of 
Christ from David, his mother Mary, his miraculous con- 
ception, the star at his birth, his baptism by John, the 
reason assigned for it, his appeal to the prophets, the oint- 
ment poured on his head, his sufferings under Pontius 
Pilate and Herod the tetrarch, his resurrection, the Lord's 
day called and kept in commemoration of it, and the eu- 
charist, in both its parts, are unequivocally referred to. 
Upon the resurrection this writer is even circumstantial. 
He mentions the apostles' eating and drinking with Christ 
after he had risen ; their feeling or their handling him ; 
from which last circumstance Ignatius raises this just 

1 Matt. x. 32, 33. 2 Matt. iii. 15. 

3 Matt. x. 16. 



296 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [20. 

reflection ; " They believed, being convinced both by 
his flesh and spirit ; for this cause, they despised death, 
and were found to be above it." — Paley.~\ 

18. Polycarp, a disciple of John, A. D. 108. " Do 
we not know that the saints shall judge the world, as 
Paul teaches ? l i For I trust that ye are well exercised 
in the holy Scriptures.' As in these Scriptures it is 
said : ' Be ye angry, and sin not. And let not the sun 
go down upon your wrath.' " 2 N. 38. 

[In an epistle of Polycarp, a disciple of Saint John, 
though only a brief hortatory letter, we have (a) the 
humility, patience, sufferings, resurrection, and ascension 
of Christ, together with the apostolic character of Saint 
Paul, distinctly recognised. (Pol. Ep. ad Phil. c. v. viii. 
ii. iii.) Of this same father we are also assured by 
Irenseus that he (Irenseus) had heard him relate " what 
he had received from eye-witnesses concerning the Lord, 
both concerning his miracles and his doctrine." — Paley.~\ 

19. Polycarp' s Martyrdom. " All things that went 
before were done, that the Lord might show us from 
above (or from the very first) a martyrdom according to 
the gospel. For he expected to be delivered up, as the 
Lord also did, that we likewise might be imitators of 
him." 

20. Observations on the Apostolical Fathers. — 
1. "Barnabas has many more passages out of the Old 
Testament than the New." 2. " Clement has more 
passages out of the Old Testament, and oftener alludes 
to it, than the New." 3. " Hernias quotes neither the 
Old nor the New Testament." 4. "Ignatius does not 
quote the Old Testament oftener than the New." 
5. " Polycarp has alluded above twenty times to texts 
of the New Testament, or recited the very words of 
them, and scarce once refers to any passage of the Old 
Testament." 

(a) In the writings of these apostolical fathers there 
is all the notice taken of the books of the New Testa- 
ment that could be expected. It is apparent that they 



1 1 Cor. vi. 2. 2 Eph. iv. 26. 



22.] CHRISTIAN TESTIMONIES. 297 

have not omitted to take notice of any book of the New 
Testament, which, as far as we are able to judge, their 
design led them to mention. Ignatius has made use of 
terms denoting a code, or collection of " Gospels" and 
" Epistles." 

21. Evangelists in the Reign oe Trajan. 
Quadrattjs [one of the number]. " The works 

of our Saviour were always conspicuous, for they 
were real ; both those that were healed, and those 
that were raised from the dead ; who were seen not 
only when they were healed or raised, but for a 
long time afterwards ; not only whilst he dwelt on this 
earth, but also after his departure, and for a good while 
after it, insomuch that some of them have reached to 
our times." 

[From Eusebius.] Among those who were illustrious 
at that time was Quadratus, who, together with the 
daughters of Philip, is said to have enjoyed the gift of 
prophecy. And besides these there were at that time 
many other eminent persons, who had the first rank in 
the succession of the apostles ; who, being the worthy 
disciples of such men, everywhere built up the churches, 
the foundations of which had been laid by the apostles ; 
extending likewise their preaching yet further, and 
scattering abroad the salutary seeds of the kingdom of 
heaven all over the world. For many of the disciples 
of that time, whose soul the Divine Word had inspired 
with an ardent love of philosophy, first fulfilled our 
Saviour's precepts, distributing their substance to the 
necessitous. Then travelling abroad, they performed 
the work of evangelists, being ambitious to preach 
Christ, and deliver the (a) Scripture of the Divine 
Gospels. 

22. Papias, a. d. 116. " I shall not think much to 
set down together with my interpretations, what I have 
learned from the elders [or presbyters], and do well 
remember confirming the truth by them. For I took 
no delight, as most men do, in those that talk a great 
deal, but in those that teach the truth, nor in those that 



298 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [22, 

relate strange precepts, but in them that relate precepts 
which the Lord has intrusted us with, and which pro- 
ceed from the truth itself. And if at any time I met 
with one who had conversed with the elders, I inquired 
after the sayings of the eiders ; what Andrew or what 
Peter said, or what Philip, what Thomas, or James had 
said ; what John or Matthew or what any other of the 
disciples of the Lord were wont to say ; and what Aris- 
tion or John the presbyter, disciples of the Lord, say ; 
for I was of opinion, that I could not profit so much by 
books as by the living." 

Eusebius, who quotes the above from Papias, adds, 
" It will be worth while to add here to the fore-cited 
words of Papias some other of his passages, in which he 
mentions some miracles, and other things which had 
come to him by tradition. That Philip the apostle 
resided with his daughters at Hierapolis, has been 
shown in some things we have already produced. Now 
we are to observe how Papias, who lived at the same 
time, mentions a wonderful relation he had received from 
Philip's daughters. For he relates, that in his time (a) 
a dead man was raised to life. He also relates another 
miracle of Justus, surnamed Barsabas : that he drank 
deadly poison, and by the grace of the Lord suffered no 
harm. Now that this Justus, after the ascension of our 
Saviour, was sent forth by the holy apostles together 
with Matthias, and that they prayed that one of 
them might be allotted to fill up their number in the 
room of Judas the traitor, the Scripture of the Acts 
relates in this manner, ch. i. 23, 24, " And they 
appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was sur- 
named Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and 
said." And other things the same writer has related, 
which he received by unwritten tradition, and some 
strange parables of our Saviour, and sermons of his, 
and several other things of a fabulous kind. Among 
which he says likewise, that there shall be a thousand 
years after the resurrection of the dead, wherein the 
kingdom of Christ shall corporally subsist upon this 
earth. Which opinion, I suppose, he was led into by 



22.] CHRISTIAN TESTIMONIES. 299 

misunderstanding the apostolical narrations ; and for 
want of seeing into those things which they spoke mys- 
tically, and in figures. For he was a man of no great 
capacity, as may be conjectured from his writings. Yet 
he gave occasion to a great many ecclesiastical writers 
after him to be of the same opinion, who respected the 
antiquity of the man ; as Irenaeus, and the rest who have 
maintained that opinion. In the same writings he deli- 
vers many other narrations of the fore-mentioned Aris- 
tion, of the words of the Lord, and traditions of John 
the presbyter ; to which we refer the curious reader. 

But it is requisite, we should subjoin to his fore-cited 
passages a tradition which he has concerning (b) Mark, 
who wrote the Gospel, in these words : " And this the 
presbyter [or elder] said, Mark being the interpreter 
of Peter, wrote exactly whatever he remembered ; but 
not in the order in which things were spoken or done 
by Christ. For he was neither a hearer nor a follower 
of the Lord ; but, as I said afterwards, followed Peter, 
who made his discourses for the profit of those that 
heard him, but not in the way of a regular history of 
our Lord's words. Mark, however, committed no mis- 
take in writing some things, as they occurred to his 
memory. For this one thing he made his care, to omit 
nothing which he had heard, and to say nothing false in 
what he related." 

(c) " When Peter had come to Rome they were so 
inflamed with love for the truths of Christianity that 
they entreated Mark the companion of Peter, and 
whose Gospel we now have, praying him that he would 
write down for them, and leave with them, an account 
of the doctrines which had been preached to them : and 
they did not desist from their request until they had 
prevailed on him, and procured his writing that which 
is now the Gospel of Mark. When Peter came to know 
this he was, by the direction of the Holy Spirit, pleased 
with the request of the people, and confirmed the Gospel 
which was written for the use of the churches." 

" Matthew (d) wrote the divine oracles in the Hebrew 
tongue, and every one interpreted them as he was able." 
26 



300 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [23. 

He also brings testimonies out of the first epistle of 
John, and of Peter in like manner. 

23. Justin Martyr, a. d. 140. " For Christ was 
the Passover who was afterwards sacrificed for us." l In 
his oration to the Greeks : " Be you as I am, for I also 
was as you are." 2 N. 17. 

Oeservations. — It is time we sum up the evidence 
of this writer. He has numerous quotations (a) of our 
Gospels, except that of St. Mark, which he has seldom 
quoted. He quotes them as containing authentic ac- 
counts of Jesus Christ and his doctrine. He speaks of 
" memoirs" or records written by " apostles" and " their 
companions;" plainly meaning the apostles and evange- 
lists, Matthew and John ; and by companions, or disci- 
ples of apostles, Mark and Luke. These Gospels were 
read and expounded in the solemn assemblies of the 
Christians, as the books of the Old Testament were ; 
and as they had been before in the Jewish synagogues. 
Whether any other books of the New Testament were 
so read he does not inform us. (b) This reading of the 
Gospels he mentions in his first Apology to Antoninus 
the Pious. He must have been well assured of the truth 
of what he says ; and it is likely knew it to be the ordi- 
nary custom of the Christian churches he had visited in 
his travels. If it had not been a general practice, or 
had obtained in some few places only, he must have 
spoken more cautiously and made use of some limita- 
tions and exceptions. For if there were Christian 
churches in which the " memoirs" he speaks of were not 
read ; upon inquiry made by the emperor, or his order, 
he had run the hazard of being convicted of a design 
to impose upon all the majesty of the Roman empire; 
and that not in an affair incidentally mentioned, but in 
the conduct and worship of his own people, concerning 
whom he professeth to give the just est information. The 
general reading of the Gospels, as a part of divine wor- 
ship, at that time, about the year 140, or not very long 
after, is not only a proof that they were well known, 

1 1 Cor. v. 7. 2 Gal. iv. 12. 



27.] CHRISTIAN TESTIMONIES. 301 

and allowed to be genuine, but also that they were in 
the highest esteem.(c) These Gospels were not con- 
cealed. Justin appeals to them in the most public 
manner, and they were open to all the world — read by 
Jews and others. 

The other passages of Justin here alleged relate to 
the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistle to the Romans, 
the first to the Corinthians, the epistles to the Galatians, 
Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, the second to 
the Thessalonians, the Epistle to the Hebrews, the 
second of Peter, and the book of the Revelation ; which 
last he ascribes expressly to John the apostle of Christ. 
I shall leave it to the reader to consider how many 
of the references to any of the other books are full and 
clear. I think it was not the method of Justin to use 
allusions in his style so often as some other writers do. 

[From Justin's Works, which are still extant, might 
be collected a tolerably complete account of Christ's 
life, in all points agreeing with that which is delivered 
in our Scriptures ; taken indeed in a great measure 
from those Scriptures, but still proving that this ac- 
count, and no other, was the account known and extant 
in that age.(e) The miracles in particular which form 
the part of Christ's history most material to be traced, 
stand fully and distinctly recognised. — Paley.~] 

24. The Epistle to Diognetus. — " The apostle says, 
Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." 1 N. 14. 

25. Tatian t a. d. 172. "This is what is said: The 
darkness comprehendeth not the light, and the word [or 
reason] is the light of God : the ignorant soul is dark- 
ness." 2 N. 4. 

26. The Epistles of the Churches of Vienna 
and Lyons, a. r>. 177. ' " Then was fulfilled that which 
was spoken by the Lord, that whosoever killeth you, 
will think that he doth God service." 3 N. 13. 

27. Iren^eus, a. d. 178. " For we have not received 
the knowledge of the way of our salvation by any others 

1 1 Cor. viii. 1. 2 John i. 5. 3 John, xvi. 2. 



302 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [27. 

than those by whom the gospel has been brought to us ; 
which gospel they first preached, and afterwards by the 
will of God committed to writing, that it might be for 
time to come the foundation and pillar of our faith. 
For after that our Lord rose from the dead, and they [the 
apostles] were endowed from above with the power of 
the Holy Ghost coming down upon them, they received 
a perfect knowledge of all things. They then went 
forth to all the ends of the earth, declaring to men the 
blessing of heavenly peace, having all of them, and 
every one alike, the gospel of God. Matthew then 
among the Jews, wrote a gospel in their own language, 
w T hile Peter and Paul were preaching the gospel at 
Rome, and founding a church there. And after their 
exit [death], or departure, Mark (a) also, the disciple 
and interpreter of Peter, delivered to us in writing the 
things that had been preached by Peter ; and Luke, the 
companion of Paul, put down in a book the gospel 
preached by him [Paul]. Aftenvards John, the disciple 
of the Lord, who also leaned upon his breast, he like- 
wise published a Gospel while he dwelt at Ephesus in 
Asia. And -all these have delivered to us that there is 
one God, the Maker of the heaven and the earth, de- 
clared by the law and the prophets, and one Christ, the 
Son of God. And he who does not assent to them, 
despiseth indeed those who knew the mind of the Lord ; 
but he despiseth also Christ himself the Lord ; and he 
despiseth likewise the Father, and is self-condemned, re- 
sisting and opposing his own salvation, as all heretics do." 
" Nor can they pretend that Paul is not an apostle, 
when he was chosen to this end ; nor can they show 
that Luke (b) is not to be credited, who has related to 
us the truth with the greatest exactness. . . . And 
possibly God has for this reason so ordered it, that 
many parts of the gospel should be declared to us by 
Luke, which all are under a necessity of receiving ; that 
so all might receive likewise his subsequent testimony, 
which he has given concerning the acts and doctrine of 
the apostles, and might have a sincere and uncorrupt 
rule of truth and be saved. Therefore his testimony is 
true." 



31.] CHRISTIAN TESTIMONIES. 303 

Observations. (c) — Thirteen epistles of Paul are 
expressly quoted as his by Irenseus, and most of them 
frequently, except the epistle to Philemon, which is not 
quoted at all. The quotations of Paul's epistles are so 
numerous, that they must be acknowledged by all who 
but cast an eye upon this father's writings. . . . The 
first epistle of Peter is quoted as his more than once. 
. . . The first and second epistles of John are expressly 
cited as John's, the disciple of the Lord. . . . The 
Apocalypse, or Revelation, is often quoted by him as 
the Revelation of John, the disciple of the Lord. . . . 
He knew the Epistle to the Hebrews, but was not satis- 
fied that it was Paul's. 

28. Athenagoras, a. d. 178. " For whosoever says 
he shall put away his wife, and marry another, com- 
mitteth adultery.'' 1 N. 19. 

29. Theophilus of Antioch, a. d. 181. " And it 
[the divine word] teacheth to render to all all things ; 
honor to whom honor, fear to whom fear, tribute to 
whom tribute ; to owe no man anything ; but only to 
love all men." 2 N. 31. 

30. Clement of Alexandria, a. d. 194. 
Observations. — I shall now sum up the testimony 

given by Clement to the books of the New Testament. 
He has expressly owned the four Gospels of Matthew, 
Mark, Luke, and John, and the Acts of the Apostles, 
which he also ascribes to Luke. He owns, likewise, all 
the fourteen epistles of Paul, except the epistle to 
Philemon, which he has nowhere mentioned, that we 
know of; but this omission may be very well supposed 
owing to no other reason but the brevity of that epistle. 
He has also quoted the first epistle of Peter, the first 
and second epistles of John, and the epistle of Jude, 
and the book of the Revelation ; but we have not found 
any quotations of the epistle of James, the second of 
Peter, or the third of John, or any evidences that these 
were owned by him. 

31. Tertullian, a. d. 200. " Well, if you be willing 

1 Luke, xvi. 18. 2 Rom. xiii. 7, 8. 

26* u 



304: HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [31. 

to exercise your curiosity profitably in the business of 
your salvation, visit the apostolical churches, in which 
the very chairs of the apostle still preside; in which 
their very authentic letters (a) are recited, sounding forth 
the voice, and representing the countenance, of each 
one of them. Is Achaia near you ? You have Corinth. 
If you are not far from Macedonia, you have Philippi, 
you have Thessalonica. If you can go to Asia, you 
have Ephesus. But if you are near to Italy, you have 
Koine, from whence we also may be easily satisfied." 

Observations. — There are in Tertullian plain testi- 
monies to all the books of the New Testament, com- 
monly received by Christians at this time, except the 
epistle of James, the second of Peter, the second and 
third of John. The epistle to the Hebrews he supposed 
to have been written by Barnabas. . . . Tertullian 
affords proof that there was in his time a Latin (b) 
version of some or all the books of the New Testa- 
ment The scriptures of the New 

Testament were (c) open to all, and well known in the 
world, in the time of Tertullian. (d) .... We 
have now seen a very valuable testimony to the scriptures 
of the New Testament in the remaining works of Ter- 
tullian, written in the latter part of the second and the 
beginning of the third century. It is considerable for the 
number of the books cited by him, almost all those which 
are now received by Christians as canonical, without so 
much as a suspicion of placing any other in the same 
rank with them, and for the large and numerous quota- 
tions of them. There are perhaps more and larger 
quotations of the small volume of the New Testament 
in this one Christian author, than of all the works of 
Cicero, though of so uncommon excellence for thought 
and style, in the writers of all characters for several ages. 
And there is a like number of quotations of the New 
Testament in St. Irenseus and St. Clement of Alexandria, 
both writers of the second century. Tertullian's tes- 
timony is considerable too for the evident tokens of that 
high (e) respect which was paid to these Scriptures. 
Indeed, they would not have been so much quoted if 
they had not been generally esteemed. Nor have the 



32.] CHRISTIAN TESTIMONIES. 305 

differing sentiments of those called heretics done us any 
lasting prejudice. The contest which they occasioned 
has increased our proof of the genuineness, authority, and 
integrity of the evangelical and apostolical Scriptures. 

32. Caius, a. d. 212. 

[From Eusebius.] " There is also come to our hands 
a dialogue [or disputation] of Caius, a most eloquent 
man, held at Rome in the time of Zephyrinus, with Pro- 
culus, a patron of the Cataphrygian heresy ; in which 
also, reproving the (a) rashness and audaciousness of 
the adversaries, in composing new writings [or Scrip- 
tures], he makes mention of but thirteen epistles of the 
holy apostle, not reckoning that to the Hebrews, with 
the rest. And, indeed, to this very time, by some of the 
Romans this epistle is not thought to be the apostle's." 

Observations. — Upon this occasion Caius gave a 
list or catalogue of the apostle Paul's epistles received 
by himself and the church in general. ... It would 
have been a great pleasure to see thirteen of St. Paul's 
epistles expressly named, with the churches, or particu- 
lar persons, to whom they were sent ; or however 
described, at least by their several characters, in the 
order then used, all together in one catalogue, composed 
by this ingenious writer, at the beginning of the third 
century. And I cannot but think that Eusebius 
deserves to be censured for this omission. 

[A fragment, supposed to be a part of the lost dia- 
logue of Caius, was discovered in 1740, was published 
in 1814, and afterwards translated in Wilson's Evi- 
dences of Christianity, vol. 1, p. 98. This fragment, 
after mentioning the Gospels of Luke and John, and 
the Acts of the Apostles, enumerates all the epistles of 
Paul, now received, except that to the Hebrews ; also 
the epistle of Jude and two epistles of John, as accounted 
genuine in the Catholic Church. It says, " The Apoca- 
lypses of John and Peter are the only ones we receive, 
which last some Christians do not allow to be read in 
the church." After mentioning the epistle of Jude and 
the two epistles of John, a sentence is strangely intro- 
duced, having the appearance of interpolation. " And 



306 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [33. 

the Book of Wisdom, written by the friends of Solomon 
in honor of him."] 

33. Origen, a. d. 230. 

Observations. — Origen received as divine Scripture 
the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John ; 
the Acts of the Apostles, written by the evangelist Luke ; 
thirteen epistles of the apostle Paul, and likewise the 
epistle to the Hebrews, which he continually quotes as 
Paul's, though in one place he delivers his opinion that 
the sentiments only of the epistle were the apostle's, the 
phrase and composition of some one else, whose he did not 
certainly know. He received likewise the first epistle of 
Peter, and the first of John. We learn from him also 
that the epistle of James, the second of Peter, the sec- 
ond and third of John, and the epistle of Jude, were 
then well known, but not universally received as genu- 
ine ; nor is it evident that Origen himself received them 
as sacred Scripture. He owns the book of the Revela- 
tion for the writing of John the apostle and evangelist; 
he quotes it as his without hesitation ; nor does it appear 
that he had any doubt about its genuineness or authority. 
Origen does mightily recommend the reading (a) of the 
Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, received in 
the churches as sacred and divine. From the large 
collection here made of his quotations of ecclesiastical 
and apocryphal (b) writings, and from the observations 
that have been made upon them, I presume it appears 
that none of these were esteemed by him as books of 
authority, from whence doctrines might be proved ; or 
Scripture, in the highest sense of that word. Indeed 
it is not evident that Origen received as sacred books 
of the New Testament, all that we now receive ; but 
that he admitted no other beside those in our present 
canon, may be reckoned certain, or, however, in the 
highest degree probable. If this has been made out to 
satisfaction, it is a material point, and worth all the 
labor of this long chapter ; though I hope it may like- 
wise answer some other good purposes. Particularly, 
we may perceive hence, as well as from other parts of 
this work, that this was not with Christians an age (c) 



34.] CHRISTIAN TESTIMONIES. 307 

of gross darkness ; at least the ministers of Christ did 
not encourage sloth and ignorance in the people, but 
earnestly excited all men to a diligent pursuit of reli- 
gious knowledge, according to their several abilities and 
opportunities, especially by studying the holy Scrip- 
tures. 

34. Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, a. d. 247. 

Observations. — Dionysius received as sacred and 
divine scriptures, the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, 
Luke, and John ; the Acts of the Apostles, the epistles 
of Paul, and particularly the epistle to the Hebrews, as 
a writing of that apostle. Concerning the seven catholic 
epistles, we do not certainly know his judgment, but he 
has mentioned expressly and often the three epistles of 
the apostle John ; the first as unquestionably genuine 
and received by all, the other two as well known. And 
it may be justly taken for granted that he received the 
first epistle of the apostle Peter, it having been all along 
universally received by Catholic Christians. As for the 
rest, we can say nothing positively as to his opinions 
about them. The Revelation he allowed to be the work 
of John, a holy and divinely inspired person ; but he 
was not satisfied that it was written by John, the son of 
Zebedee, apostle and evangelist. However, in his argu- 
ment concerning that book, he lets us know that it was 
then generally received by Christians as written by 
John the apostle. In Dionysius we have seen, like- 
wise, evidences of that peculiar respect (a) showed by 
Christians to the sacred scriptures ; which they looked 
upon as the rule of judgment in things of religion, by 
which all points in controversy were to be decided. 
And what those scriptures were, he shows by these 
general titles and divisions of them : " The Law and the 
Prophets, the Gospels and Epistles of Apostles." Nor 
have we perceived, in the remaining works and frag- 
ments of this great and learned Bishop of Alexandria, 
any marks of respect for any Christian apocryphal (b) 
writings. 



308 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [38. 

35. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, a. d. 248. 

Observations. — We have seen in St. Cyprian a large 
canon of scripture ; all the books of the New Testament 
commonly received by Christians at this present time, 
except the epistle to Philemon (which may have been 
omitted for no other reason but that he had no particular 
occasion to quote it), and the epistle to the Hebrews, 
and the epistle of St. James, and the second epistle of 
St. Peter, and the epistle of St. Jude. There is no 
particular citation of the third epistle of St. John ; but, 
considering its shortness, and that the other two epistles 
of that apostle are expressly mentioned, there seems not 
to be any good reason for supposing it to have been 
rejected by this writer, or unknown to him. Excepting 
these few, all the other books of the New Testament 
have an ample testimony given them in the works of St. 
Cyprian; and they appear to have been esteemed 
inspired books and writings of authority, the rule of 
faith and practice to all Christian people. Nor is there 
in this eminent and celebrated African bishop of the 
third century one quotation of any Christian, spu- 
rious, or apocryphal (a) scriptures. 

36. Lactantius. a. d. 306. " Dei autem praecepta, 
quia et simplicia et vera sunt, &c. [because the precepts 
of God are simple and true, daily experience proves 
their power on the minds of men. Give me a man who 
is choleric, abusive, headstrong, and unruly ; with a 
very few words — the words of God — I will render him 
as gentle as a lamb. Give me an unjust man, a foolish 
man, a vicious man ; and, on a sudden, he shall become 
honest, wise, virtuous]." 

37. Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, a. d. 
313. 

Observations. — Alexander received the epistle to 

the Hebrews as Paul's He quotes the second epistle 

of St. John. 

38. constantine the great, the first christian 
Emperor, a. d. 306. 

Observations. — Taking the sacred books in his own 



39.] CHRISTIAN TESTIMONIES. 309 

hands, he attentively read and meditated upon the 
divine oracles ; and then recited the usual prayers with 

the whole assembly of his courtiers He ordained, 

by an edict, that the Lord's day should be a day of rest 

throughout the Roman Empire By Sozomen we 

are informed that Constantine abolished the punishment 
of the cross, which had been so long used bv the Ro- 

mans He forbad the cruel sports of gladiators ; (a) 

though his authority was not sufficient to abolish them 
everywhere and entirely. There was need of repeated 
laws of Christian emperors for that purpose. He like- 
wise appointed that criminals, which had been hitherto 
usually condemned to act as gladiators in public shows, 

should rather be sent to work in the mines Letter 

to the Bishop of Caesarea, probably written about the 
year 332 : " The city that bears our name, through the 
goodness of Providence, increases daily, and there will 
be occasion for erecting in it many churches. Where- 
fore we hope you will approve of our design, and take 
care to procure fifty (c) copies of the divine scriptures, 
which you know to be necessary in churches, of fine 
parchment, legible, and easily portable, that they may 
be the fitter for use, transcribed by such as are most 
skilful in the art of fair writing. Directions are given 
to the receiver-general of the province to furnish you 
with all things needful. By virtue of this letter you 
may demand the use of two public carriages, for the 
more commodious and speedy conveyance of the fairly 
written books to us. And if you send them by a dea- 
con of your church, he will be made sensible of our 
bounty. Which orders, as Eusebius says, were imme- 
diately obeyed by us. And we sent him ternions and 
quaternions magnificently adorned, as appears by the 
emperor's answer contained in a letter sent to us upon 
another occasion." 

39. Eusebius, Bishop of Cesarea, a. d 315. 

Observations. — What we have seen in the words of 
this learned and laborious bishop, who flourished at 
about three hundred years after our Lord's ascension, is 
an invaluable testimony to the things concerning the 



310 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [39. 

Lord J esus himself and his apostles, and to the (a) swift 
and wonderful progress of the gospel and to the scrip- 
tures of the Old and New Testament. The former were 
those received by the Jewish people. The (c) number 
of the books of the New Testament does not appear to 
have been in his time settled by any authority that was 
universally allowed of; but the books following were 
universally received, the four Gospels, the Acts of the 
Apostles, thirteen epistles of Paul, one epistle of Peter, 
and one epistle of John. These, J say, were univer- 
sally received by Christians in our author's time, and 
had been all along received by the elders and churches 
of former times. Beside these, we now generally receive 
an epistle to the Hebrews, an epistle of James, a second 
epistle of Peter, a second and third of John, an epistle 
of Jude, and the Revelation. And it appears from this 
learned writer, that these books or epistles were then 
next in esteem to those before mentioned, as universally 
acknowledged ; and were more generally received as of 
authority than any other controverted writings. Be- 
side these, there was the Gospel according to the 
Hebrews, made use of by the Jewish Christians ; being, 
probably, a translation of St. Matthew's Gospel, with 
some additions, and, as it seems, containing little or 
nothing contrary to the genuine doctrine of Christ and 
his apostles. The book called the Doctrine, or Doctrines 
of the Apostles, we have not now a distinct knowledge 
of; but, probably, it was a small book, containing the 
rudiments of the Christian religion, and fitted for the 
use of young people and new converts, and never 
esteemed a part of sacred scripture. (d) As for the rest, 
they were not very numerous, and their character is 
easily determined ; for either they were useful ecclesi- 
astical writings, as the epistles of Barnabas and Clement, 
and the Shepherd of Hermas, which, as we have seen 
from the quotations of them in the writers of the first 
three centuries, were never received as of authority, or 
a part of sacred and canonical scripture ; or they were 
mean, absurd, and fabulous compositions, despised and 
disliked by the sounder Christians in general, both of 



41.] CHRISTIAN TESTIMONIES. 311 

our author's and of former times. To the books of 
sacred scripture the greatest respect (e) was shown ; they 
were esteemed as of authority and decisive in all points 
of a religious nature ; they were publicly read (f ) and 
explained in the assemblies of Christian people ; and 
they were open (g) to be freely read by all sorts of per- 
sons in private, for their instruction and improvement in 
religious knowledge, and their edification in virtue. 
Finally, it may be observed, that this learned author 
makes little use in his works of apochryphal (h) scrip- 
tures of the Old Testament ; none at all ' of Christian 
writings, forged with the names of Christ's apostles, or 
their companions. 

40. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, a. d. 326. 
Observations. — This testimony of Athanasius to the 

scriptures is very valuable ; it appears from the Festal 
Epistle, and from his other works, that he received all 
the books of the New Testament that we do, and no 
other, as of authority. And, considering the time in 
which he lived, the acquaintance he had with the several 
parts of the Christian church at that time, and the 
bishops of it, in Egypt, and its neighborhood, in Europe, 
in Asia, and the knowledge he had of ancient Christian 
writings ; it must be reckoned of great use to satisfy us, 
that notwithstanding the frequent quotations of other 
books, in the writings of divers ancient Christians, they 
did always make a distinction, and did not design to 
allege as of authority, and a part of the rule of faith, 
any books, but those which were in the highest sense 
sacred and divine. 

41. The Council of Laodicea, a. d. 363. [Last 
two canons.] That private psalms ought not to be read 
[or said] in the church, nor any books, not canonical, 
but only the canonical books of the Old and New Testa- 
ment. " The books of the Old Testament which ought 

to be read, are these, 1. The Genesis," &c. &c 

" The books of the New Testament are these : The four 
Gospels, according to Matthew, according to Mark, ac- 
cording to Luke, according to John : the Acts of the 

27 



312 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [42. 

Apostles ; the seven catholic epistles : of James one, 
of Peter two, of John three, of Jude one, the fourteen 
epistles of Paul : to the Romans one, to the Corinthians 
two, to the Galatians one, to the Ephesians one, to the 
Philippians one, to the Colossians one, to the Thessa- 
lonians two, to the Hebrews one, to Timothy two, to 
Titus one, to Philemon one." 

Observations. — In this catalogue are omitted, for the 
Old Testament, the books of Judith, Tobit, Wisdom, 
Ecclesiasticus, the Maccabees ; and in the New the Re- 
velation, either not reckoning it a work of John the 
apostle and evangelist, or not esteeming it proper to 

be publicly read in the church Finally, it ought 

to be observed, that this was a particular council only, 
consisting of thirty or forty bishops of Lydia, and neigh- 
boring countries. 

42. Jerom, a. d. 392. 

Observations. — Here again, we see that there is no 
notice taken of any books of the Old Testament, beside 
those of the Jewish canon. The books of the New Tes- 
tament are the same with those now commonly received 
and mentioned by Jerom as of authority in his other 
works, excepting only the epistle of Barnabas. The 
reason of Jerom's here taking in that epistle, Cotelerius 
supposes to be, that he followed Origen, from whom the 
latter part of this work was borrowed, for in other places 
Jerom reckons the epistle of Barnabas among apocryphal 

scriptures It is not easy to forbear taking some 

particular notice of Jerom's labors concerning the scrip- 
tures. He (a) put out a correct Latin translation of 
the books of the New Testament, amending the Latin 
version before in use by the Greek original. He cor- 
rected the Latin version of the Old Testament, which 
had been from the Greek of the Seventy: which was 
before in use in the churches that spake the Latin 
tongue. He made a Latin translation of all the looks 

of the Jewish scripture from the Hebrew He 

expressly says, that he had corrected the Latin transla- 
tion of the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, an 1 



42.] CHRISTIAN TESTIMONIES. 313 

John, by the Greek copies, (b) and those ancient, — 
" Igitur hsec prsesens prsefatiuncula pollicetur quatuor 
tantuin evangelia ; quorum orclo est Matthseus, Marcus, 
Lucas, Johannes ; codicum Grsecorum emendata colla- 
tione, sed veterum." 

(c.) JeroniB Testimony to the character of ancient 
Oh ristian writers . 

" Let the enemies of our religion, who say the church 
had no philosophers, nor eloquent and learned men, ob- 
serve who and what they were, who founded, established, 
and adorned it ; let them cease to accuse our faith of 
rusticity, and confess their mistake." .... [Having 
observed the learning of Moses, Solomon, and Paul, he 
in the next place mentions two apologists for the Chris- 
tian religion in the time of Adrian, — Quadratus and 
Aristides.] — " The next to them is Justin, also a philo- 
sopher, who presented an apology to Antoninus the 
Pious, and his sons, and the whole senate, against the 
Gentiles, warding off the ignominy of the cross, and 
with full freedom and undaunted courage asserting the 
resurrection of Christ. Why should I speak of Melito, 
bishop of Sardis, and Apollinarius, bishop of Hierapolis, 
and Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, and Tatian, and Bar- 
desanes, and Irenseus, successor of Pothinus the martyr ; 
who, in many volumes, have detected the origin of every 
heresy, and showed from what philosophers they were de- 
rived ? Next, Pantasnus, a philosopher of the Stoic sect, 
and a man of great reputation for learning. Clement, 
presbyter of the church of Alexandria, in my opinion, 
the most learned of all men, wrote eight books of 
Stromata, or Miscellanies, and other works, in which 
there is nothing unlearned, nothing which is not fetched 
from the depths of Philosophy ; who was also followed 
and imitated by his disciple, Origen. Miltiades likewise 
wrote an excellent book against the Gentiles. Hip- 
polytus and Apollonius, senators of Pome, published 
some works suitable to their character. There are also 
the works of Julius Africanus the chronologer, and of 
Theodore, afterwards called Gregory, a man of apostolical 
gifts and virtues, and of Dionysius, bishop of Alexan- 



314 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [43. 

dria ; as also of Anatolius, bishop of the church of 
Laodicea ; likewise of the presbyters, Pamphilus, Pierius, 
Lucian, Malchion ; Eusebius bishop of Csesarea, Eus- 
tathius bishop of Antioch, Athanasius bishop of Alex- 
andria, Eusebius of Emesa, Triphyllius of Cyprus, 
Asterius, and Serapion, Titus bishop of Bostra, and 
the Cappadocian bishops, Basil, Gregory, Amphiloehius ; 
who all have so filled their books with sentiments of the 
philosophers, and quotations from them, that it is not 
easy to say, which is more conspicuous and admirable 
in them, whether skill in profane learning, or the know- 
ledge of the scriptures. 

" I come now to the Latins. Who more learned, 
who more acute than Tertullian ? His Apology and 
book against the Gentiles are filled with all manner of 
learning. Minucius Felix, a Roman advocate, author 
of the book entitled Octavius, has left untouched no 
part of human literature. Arnobius wrote seven books, 
and his disciple Lactantius as many, beside two other 
volumes Of the Wrath of God, and the Creation of the 
World ; which whoever reads, will see in them an epi- 
tome of the Dialogues of Cicero. If Victorinus was not 
learned, he did not want a good will to learning, as ap- 
pears from his works. Cyprian demonstrated the vanity 
of idols in a concise manner, showing great knowledge 
of history, and good sense ; after whom follow Hilary 
and Juvencus ;" and he omits others he says, "both 
living and dead, whose performances manifest the like 
abilities." 

43. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo Regius, in Af- 
rica, A. D. 395. " We read in the Acts of Apostles of 
some who believed, that ' they searched the scriptures 
daily, whether those things were so.' * What scriptures, 
I pray, except the canonical scriptures of the law and 
the prophets ? To them have been since added the 
Gospels, the Epistles of the Apostles, the Acts of the 
Apostles, and the Revelation of John. These do you 
search." ... " Our canonical books of scripture, which 
are of the highest authority with us, have been settled 

1 Ch. xvii. 11. 



46.] CHRISTIAN TESTIMONIES. 315 

with great (a) care ; they ought to be few, lest their value 
should be diminished ; and yet they are so many, and 
written by so many persons, that their agreement 
throughout is wonderful." . . . "Among (b) transla- 
tions let that be preferred which is most literal and 
clear ; and for correcting all manner of Latin transla- 
tions recourse should be had to the Greek." ... " As 
for the New Testament, there can be no question but 
that we ought to have recourse to the Greek copies, and 
especially such as are to be found with churches of the 
greatest learning and knowledge." 

44. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, 
a. D. 398. " The doctrines and writings of (a) fishermen, 
who were beaten and driven from society, and always 
lived in the midst of strangers, have been readily em- 
braced by learned and unlearned, bondmen and free, 
kings and soldiers, Greeks and barbarians." . . . "Not- 
withstanding the absurd opinions and evil practices 
which had obtained, Christ, in a short time, delivered 
men from them all ; and that not the Romans only, but 
also the Persians, and the barbarian nations. This he 
accomplished, not by arms, nor by bribes, nor by wars 
and battles ; but beginning with eleven men, and those 
poor, mean, illiterate, unexperienced, unarmed, without 
shoes, and having one coat only, he persuaded great 
numbers of men in all nations to change their sentiments 
and manners." 

45. Salvian, a. d. 440. 

Observations. — Salvian assures us, that they who 
were called heretics received the same scriptures that 
other Christians did ; the same prophets, the same apos- 
tles, and evangelists. 

46. General Review. 

. . . And may I not add, Let those conceited Chris- 
tians who unmeasurably despise the primitive times of 
Christianity, learn to pay some respect to their Christian 
ancestors, in whom both learning and an honest, fervent 
zeal were united. ... If I mistake not, it has appeared, 
27* 



316 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [47. 

after a fair and careful examination, that though there 
were doubts about some of the books now generally re- 
ceived as canonical, yet there were no other beside them 
which those ancient writers received as part of the rule 
of faith, and that they alleged them by way of illustra- 
tion only. 

47. Recapitulation. 

In this second part we have had express and positive 
evidence that these books were written by those whose 
names they bear, even the apostles of Jesus Christ, who 
was crucified at Jerusalem in the reign of Tiberius 
Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor in Judea, and 
their well-known companions and fellow-laborers. It is 
the concurring testimony of early and later ages, and 
of writers of all countries in the several parts of the 
known world, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and of men of 
different sentiments in divers respects ; for we have had 
before us the testimony of those called heretics, espe- 
cially in the third and fourth centuries, as well as 
Catholics. These books were received from the begin- 
ning with the greatest respect, and have been publicly 
and solemnly read in the assemblies of Christians 
throughout the world in every age from that time to 
this. They were early translated into the languages of 
divers countries and people ; they were quoted by way 
of proof in all arguments of a religious nature, and 
were appealed to on both sides in all points of contro- 
versy that arose among Christians themselves ; they were 
likewise recommended to the perusal of others, as con- 
taining the authentic account of the Christian doctrine ; 
and many commentaries have been written upon them to 
explain and illustrate them ; all which affords full assur- 
ance of their genuineness and integrity. If these books 
had not been written by those to whom they are ascribed, 
and if the things related in them had not been true, 
they could not have been received from the beginning ; 
if they contain a true account of things, the Christian 
religion is from God, and cannot but be embraced by 
Serious and attentive men, who impartially examine, 
and are willing to be determined by evidence. 



48.] JEWISH TESTIMONIES. 317 



Section IV. Jewish Testimonies. 

THE PRINCIPAL FACTS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ARE 
CONFIRMED BY THE TESTIMONY OF ANCIENT JEWISH 
WRITERS. 

48. Josephus, A. d. 76. " But some of the Jews 
were of opinion that God had suffered Herod's army 
to be destroyed as a just punishment on him for the 
death of John, called the Baptist. For Herod had 
killed him, who was a just man, and had called upon 
the Jews to be baptized, and to practise virtue, ex- 
ercising both justice toward men, and piety toward 
God. For so would baptism be acceptable to God, if 
they made use of it, not for the expiation of their sins, 
but for the purity of the body ; the mind being first 
purified by righteousness. And many coming to him 
(for they were wonderfully taken with his discourses), 
Herod was seized with apprehensions, lest by his autho- 
rity they should be led into sedition against him ; for 
they seemed capable of undertaking anything by his 
direction. Herod therefore thought it better to take 
him off before any disturbance happened, than to run 
the risk of a change of affairs, and of repenting when 
it should be too late to remedy disorders. Being taken 
upon this suspicion of Herod, and being sent bound to 
the castle of Machasvus, just mentioned, he was slain 
there." 

[The genuineness of the two following passages, 
especially of the first, is considered doubtful. They 
appear in the works of Josephus, but are suspected to 
be interpolations.] 

" At that time lived Jesus, a wise man, if he may be 
called a man ; for he performed many wonderful works. 
He was a teacher of such men as received the truth 
with pleasure. He drew over to him many Jews and 
Gentiles. This was the Christ. And when Pilate, at 
the instigation of the chief men among us, had con- 
demned him to the cross, they who before had conceived 
an affection for him did not cease to adhere to him. For 



318 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [48. 

on the third day he appeared to them alive again ; the 
divine prophets having foretold these, and many other 
wonderful things concerning him. And the sect of the 
Christians, so called from him, subsists to this time." 

" This then being the temper of Ananus, and 

he thinking he had a fit opportunity because Festus was 
dead and Albinus was yet upon the road, calls a council 
of judges ; and, bringing before them James, the brother 
of him who is called Christ, and some others, he accused 
them as transgressors of the laws, and had them stoned 
to death." 

Observations. — He [Josephus] likewise acknow- 
ledges that there was then in Judea a general expectation 
of a great person to arise among them, who should 
obtain the empire of the world ; and that this expecta- 
tion was one great occasion of the Avar with the Romans, 
and that it was built upon an oracle found in their 
sacred writings ; and that many of their wise men em- 
braced it and acted upon it, in their engaging in the 
war. . . In the Talmudical writings, (a) Jesus is men- 
tioned ; but as Lightfoot, who was well acquainted with 
them, says, it was chiefly with a view to wound and re- 
proach him. They call his mother by the name 
Mary, but they have aspersed her character, and have 
assigned to Jesus a spurious nativity. They have men- 
tioned several of our Saviour's disciples, who, as they 
say, were put to death. They say our Saviour 
suffered as a malefactor at one of the Jewish Passovers, 
or in the eve of it, as the expression is. They seem in 
some places to acknowledge the power of miracles in 
Jesus and his disciples; and if they had not known 
that many miraculous works were ascribed to him, they 
would not have insinuated that he learned magical arts 
in Egypt, and brought them thence in a private manner, 
and then set up himself among his countrymen as an 
extraordinary person. 



49.] HEATHEN TESTIMONIES. 319 

Section V. Heathen Testimonies. 

THE PRINCIPAL FACTS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ARE CON- 
FIRMED BY THE TESTIMONY OF ANCIENT HEATHEN 
WRITERS. 

49. Tacitus, a. d. 100. " But neither all human 
help, nor the liberality of the emperor, nor all the atone- 
ments presented to the Gods, availed to abate the infamy 
he lay under of having ordered the city to be set on 
fire. To suppress therefore this common rumor, Nero 
procured others to be accused, and inflicted exquisite 
punishment upon those people who were in abhorrence 
for their crimes, and were commonly known by the 
name of Christians. They had their denomination from 
Christus, who in the reign of Tiberius was put to death 
as a criminal by the procurator Pontius Pilate. This 
pernicious superstition, though checked for awhile, broke 
out again and spread, not only over Judea, the source 
of this evil, but reached the city also ; whither flow from 
all quarters all things vile and shameful, and where they 
find shelter and encouragement. At first they only 
were apprehended who confessed themselves of that 
sect ; afterwards a vast multitude discovered by them ; 
all which were condemned, not so much for the crime 
of burning the city, as for their enmity to mankind. 
Their executions were so contrived as to expose them to 
derision and contempt. Some were covered over with 
the skins of wild beasts, and torn to pieces by dogs ; 
some were crucified ; others having been daubed over 
with combustible materials, were set up as lights in the 
night-time, and thus burned to death. Nero made use 
of his own gardens as a theatre upon this occasion, and 
also exhibited the diversions of the circus ; sometimes 
standing in the crowd as a spectator, in the habit of a 
charioteer, at other times driving a chariot himself; till 
at length these men, though really criminal and deserv- 
ing exemplary punishment, began to be commiserated 
as people who were destroyed, not out of a regard to 
the public welfare, but only to gratify the cruelty of 
one man." [a. d. 64.] 



320 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [49. 

Observations. (a) — He [Tacitus] says that Judea was 
first brought into subjection to the Romans by Pompey. 
After which he gives a summary account of their affairs 
under Herod and his sons, the emperors Augustus, Tibe- 
rius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero. He mentions Felix, whom 
he represents as a bad man, and tyrannical in his govern- 
ment. " However the Jews," he says, "bore the exac- 
tions of their governors till the time of their procurator 
Gessius Floras, under whom the war began. Cestius 
Gallus, president of Syria, came to his assistance, but 
he being defeated, Nero sent Vespasian into Judea, who 
was a general of great merit and reputation ; and hav- 
ing also under him good officers, in the space of two 
years," meaning the years 67 and 68, he reduced the 
open country, and all the cities of Judea, excepting 
Jerusalem. The next year, 69, "was taken up in civil 
wars;" meaning the time of the short reigns of Galba, 
Otho, Vitellius, till the accession of Vespasian. " The 
following year [and the beginning of it] Titus was ap- 
pointed to attend the affairs of Judea ; who now drew 
near to Jerusalem and besieged it. Tacitus supposeth 
that Titus was in haste to go to Rome to enjoy the 
pleasures and splendor of the city. He therefore 
carried on the siege with the greatest vigor. The army 
likewise were intent upon plunder, and eager to gratify 
their revenge. The city, however, was strong by situa- 
tion, and with good walls and ramparts ; the high tower 
Antonia, conspicuous from afar. The temple itself was 
like a citadel, well fortified. They had a fountain of 
water that ran continually, and the mountains were 
hollowed under ground. Moreover, they had pools and 
cisterns for preserving rain water. And there was a 
great confluence of people. For the men of the other 
cities that had been reduced, and in general all the tur- 
bulent and seditious people of the nation, came hither. 
There were three captains, or heads of factions, " and 
as many armies, Simon, John, called also Bargioras, 
and Eleazar, who occupied several parts of the city. 
Among themselves they had fierce contentions, and 
therein great quantities of provision were consumed. 



51.] HE A Til EH TESTIMONIES. Sf21 

Eleazar being killed, they were reduced to two factions. 
These fought with each other till the near approach of 
the Romans obliged them to agreement." 

50. Suetonius, a. d. 110. — u The Christians were 
punished ; a sort of men of a new and magical super- 
stition." [Under Nero.] " There had been, 

for a long time, all over the east, a prevailing opinion 
that it was in the fates [in the decrees or books of the 
fates] that at that time some one from Judea should 
obtain the empire of the world. By the event it ap- 
peared that a Roman emperor was meant by that pre- 
diction. The Jews, applying it to themselves, went into 
a rebellion. At first they had such success that they 
not only overcame their own governor, but also defeated 
the proconsular governor of Syria, who came to his 
assistance. There being now manifest occasion for a 
general of great reputation, and a numerous army, 
Vespasian was appointed for that service ; who, among 
other commanders under him, had his eldest son, Titus. 
Having put his army into good order, he entered upon 
the war with great vigor, and not without hazard to his 
person, having been slightly wounded in an attack made 
at one of their towns, and received several darts upon 
his shield." ..." Titus having been left in Judea, to 
complete the reduction of that country, he, in the last siege 
of Jerusalem, killed seven of the enemy with as many 
darts : and he took that city on his daughter's birth- 
day, and was then saluted by the soldiers with the title 
of emperor." 

51. Pliny the Younger, and Trajan, a. d. 106 
and 107. Pliny' 's letter to Trajan. — " Pliny to the empe- 
ror wisheth health and happiness. It is my constant 
custom, sir, to refer myself to you in all matters con- 
cerning which I have any doubt. For who can better 
direct me where I hesitate, or instruct me where I am 
ignorant ? I have never been present at any trials of 
Christians ; so that I know not well what is the subject- 
matter of punishment, or of inquiry, or what strictness 
ought to be used in either. Nor have I been a little 



322 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [51. 

perplexed to determine whether any difference ought to 
be made on account of age, or whether the young and 
tender, and the full grown and robust, ought to be 
treated all alike ; whether repentance should entitle to 
pardon, or whether all who have once been Christians 
ought to be punished, though they are now no longer so; 
whether the name itself, although no crimes be detected, 
or crimes only belonging to the name, ought to be pun- 
ished. Concerning all these things I am in doubt. 

" In the mean time I have taken this course with all 
who have been brought before me and have been accused 
as Christians. I have put the question to them whether 
they were Christians. Upon their confessing to me 
that they were, I repeated the question a second and a 
third time, threatening also to punish them with death. 
Such as still persisted I ordered away to be punished ; 
for it was no doubt with me, whatever might be the 
nature of their opinion, that contumacy and inflexible 
obstinacy ought to be punished. There were others 
of the same infatuation, whom, because they are Roman 
citizens, I have noted down to be sent to the city. 

"In a short time, the crime spreading itself, even 
whilst under persecution, as is usual in such cases, divers 
sorts of people came in my way. An information was 
presented to me without mentioning the author, con- 
taining the names of many persons, who, upon examina- 
tion, denied that they were Christians, or had ever been 
so ; who repeated after me an invocation of the gods, 
and with wine and frankincense made supplication to 
your image, which for that purpose I have caused to be 
brought and set before them, together with the statues 
of the deities. Moreover, they reviled the name of 
Christ. None of which things, as is said, they who are 
really Christians, can by any means be compelled to do. 
These, therefore, I thought proper to discharge. 

" Others were named by an informer, who at first con- 
fessed themselves Christians, and afterwards denied it. 
The rest said they had been Christians, but had left 
them ; some three years ago, some longer, and one, or 
more, above twenty years. They all worshippel your 
image and the statues of the gods ; these also reviled 



51.] HEATHEN TESTIMONIES. 823 

Christ. They affirmed that the whole of their fault or 
error lay in this, that they were wont to meet together 
on a stated day before it was light, and sing among 
themselves alternately a hymn to Christ, as a god, and 
bind themselves by an oath, not to the commission of 
any wickedness, but not to be guilty of theft, or rob- 
bery, or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor to 
deny a pledge committed to them, when called upon to 
return it. When these things were performed it was 
their custom to separate, and then to come together 
again to a meal, which they ate in common, without any 
disorder ; but this they had forborne, since the publica- 
tion of my edict, by which, according to your commands, 
I prohibited assemblies. 

" After receiving this account I judged it the more 
necessary to examine, and that by torture, two maid- 
servants, which were called ministers. Eut I have dis- 
covered nothing, beside a bad and excessive supersti- 
tion. 

" Suspending, therefore, all judicial proceedings, I 
have recourse to you for advice ; for it has appeared to 
me a matter highly deserving consideration, especially 
upon account of the great number of persons who are 
in danger of suffering. For many of all ages, and 
every rank, of both sexes likewise, are accused, and 
will be accused. Nor has the (a) contagion of this 
superstition seized cities only, but the lesser towns also, 
and the open country. Nevertheless it seems to me that 
it may be restrained and corrected. It is certain that 
the temples, which were almost forsaken, begin to be 
more frequented. And the sacred solemnities, after a 
long intermission, are revived. Victims, likewise, are 
everywhere bought up, whereas for some time there 
were few purchasers. Whence it is easy to imagine 
what numbers of men might be reclaimed if pardon 
were granted to those who shall repent." 

Trajan s reply. " You have taken the right method, 
my Pliny, in your proceedings with those who have 
been brought before you as Christians ; for it is impos- 
sible to establish any one rule that shall hold univer- 

28 



324 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [53. 

sally. They are not to be sought for. If any are 
brought before you, and are convicted, they ought to 
be punished. However, he that denies his being a 
Christian, and makes it evident in fact, that is, by 
supplicating to our gods, though he be suspected to 
have been so formerly, let him be pardoned upon 
repentance. But in no case of any crime whatever, 
may a bill of information be received without being 
signed by him who presents it: for that would be a 
dangerous precedent, and unworthy of my government." 
Observation. — The genuineness of these letters is 
unquestioned. 

52. Epictetus the Stoic Philosopher, a. d. 109. 
" Is it possible that a man may arrive at this temper, 

and become indifferent to those things from madness, or 
from habit, as the Galileans, and yet that no one should 
be able to know by reason and demonstration that God 
made all things in the world — ? .... 

" Let this preparation of the mind [to die] arise from 
its own judgment, and not from obstinacy like the 
Christians." 

53. Celsus, a. d. 176. 

Recapitulation. — In the passages alleged under 
the second section we have seen good proofs that the 
Jewish people had expectations of that great person the 
Messiah. 

In the passages cited under the third section, we 
have seen many plain references to the Gospels, and to 
several of St. Paul's epistles, if not also to St. Peter's 
and St. John's. We are assured by Celsus that there 
were histories of Jesus written by his disciples, meaning 
his apostles and their companions ; and that those books 
were well known, and in high esteem with Christians 
.... Nor is there so much as an insinuation, that 
the later Christians, of Celsus's own time, or there- 
about, had forged these histories to do honor to Jesus. 
He only says that they had altered some things ; but 
of that he produced no proof; nor did he allege any 
particular instances ; he only says in the place referred 



53.] HEATHEN TESTIMONIES. 325 

to, if Origen has taken the words of Celsus exactly, 
" that some of the believers had taken the liberty to 
alter the gospel from the first writing." 

In the fourth section are many passages of Celsus 
bearing testimony to the books of the New Testament, 
and the facts (a) contained in them . . . that by direc- 
tion of an angel, he [Jesus] was carried by his parents 
into Egypt for the preservation of his life ; where, as 
Celsus insinuates, Jesus learned the charms practised 
in that country .... In the history of Jesus, written 
by his disciples, he is said to have (b) healed the lame 
and the blind, and to have raised some dead persons to 
life ; and though he is unwilling to allow that these were 
real miracles done by the power of God, he dares not 
to deny their truth, and is troubled to account for them, 
and was almost reduced to the necessity of allowing the 
power of magic, though he is supposed to have formerly 
written against it ... . Though he will not admit, 
that Jesus rose from the dead, he acknowledgeth (c) 
the disciples to have related it, and that an angel 
descended, and removed the stone from the door of the 
sepulchre, and that he is said by them to have shown 
himself to one woman, and then to others, and to his 
disciples .... So that we have in Celsus, in a man- 
ner, the whole history (d) of Jesus, as recorded in the 
Gospels ; for we have traced in him the history of our 
Lord's birth, life, preaching, miracles, death, and resur- 
rection ; all as taken by him from the writings of 
Christ's own disciples. 

In the fifth section we have observed the notice 
which Celsus takes of some Christian principles in par- 
ticular, the general resurrection of the dead ; as for the 
moral doctrine he was not able to find any fault with 
it ; but he says the like things had been before taught 
by the philosophers, and better expressed. He takes 
notice of the veneration which the Christians had for 
Jesus, as their master, and the Messiah promised of old. 
But, he says the Jews were mistaken in expecting such 
a person at all ; and the Christians were mistaken in 



326 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [55. 

thinking he was actually come ; though, as he allows, 
they argued from the ancient Jewish prophets. 

In the sixth section we have seen some passages bear- 
ing testimony to the great (e) progress of the Christian 
religion in the world, notwithstanding many difficulties 
and discouragements. Indeed, this whole work of 
Celsus is an evidence of the prevailing power of the 
Christian religion ; he has sufficiently acknowledged the 
great number of Jews and Gentiles, who had been 
gained over to this belief; and if it had not been still 
spreading and prevailing, this learned and ingenious 
man would have saved himself the pains of this laborious 
argument to confute it. 

Under the seventh section we saw how Celsus was 
disposed to charge the Christians with magical arts and 
practices. 

In the eighth section are some passages relating to 
Christian worship. It appears from what Celsus says, 
that they worshipped the one God, creator of all things, 
and had a high veneration for Jesus Christ ; nor would 
they worship demons, or join in the public sacrifices and 
festivals of heathen people. . . . He owns they were 
then sought (f ) for to be put to death. 

54. Lucian of Samosata, a. d. 176. . . . 

" They therefore still worship that great man who 
was crucified in Palestine, because he introduced into 
the world this new religion. . . . Moreover, their first 
lawgiver has taught them that they are all brethren 
when once they have turned and renounced the gods of 
the Greeks, and worship that master of theirs who was 
crucified, and engage to live according to his laws. 
They have (a) also a sovereign contempt for all things 
of this world, and look upon them as common, and trust 
one another with them without any particular security ; 
by which reason any subtil fellow, by good manage- 
ment, may impose upon this simple people, and grow 
rich among them." 

55. Diogenes Laertius, a. d. 210. — "At this time 
[almost six hundred years before the nativity of our 



57.] HEATHEN TESTIMONIES. 327 

Saviour] the fame of Epimenides was very great among 
all the Greeks, and he was supposed to be in great favor 
with the gods. The Athenians being afflicted with a 
pestilence, they were directed by the Pythian oracle to 
get their city purified by expiation. They therefore 
sent Nicias, son of iSiiceratus, in a ship to Crete, inviting 
Epimenides to come to them. He coming thither in the 
forty-sixth Olympiad, purified their city, and delivered 
them from the pestilence in this manner. Taking several 
sheep, some black others white, he had them up to the 
Areopagus ; and then let them go where they would ; 
and gave orders to those who followed them, wherever 
any one of them should lie down, to sacrifice it to the 
god to whom it belonged. And so the plague ceased. 
Hence it comes to pass, that to this present time may 
be found in the boroughs of the Athenians anonymous 
altars, a memorial of the expiation then made." [Com- 
pare Acts, xvii. 23.] 

56. Dion Cassius, a. d. 230. [At the close of his 
account of the siege of Jerusalem.] " Many were taken 
prisoners, and among them Bargioras their general ; who 
only was put to death at the time of the triumph. Thus 
Jerusalem was taken on a Saturday, the day still re- 
spected by the Jews above any other. From that time 
it was appointed, that all who adhere to their religion 
should annually pay a didrachm to the capitol of Jupiter. 
Upon this occasion both the generals [Vespasian and 
Titus] received the appellation of emperor ; but neither 
took the surname of Judaicus, although triumphal arches 
and other honors, customary after great victories, were 
decreed to them." 

57. Porphyry, a. d. 270. 

[From Jerom.] " He [Porphyry] says that it [the 
book of (a) Daniel] was not written by him whose name 
it bears, but by another who lived in Judea in the time 
of Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes ; and that the book 
of Daniel does not foretell things to come, but relates 
what had already happened. In a word, whatever it 
contains to the time of Antiochus is true history ; if 
28* 



328 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [58. 

there is anything relating to after-times it is all false- 
hood ; forasmuch as the writer could not see things 
future, but at the most only make some conjectures 
about them." 

[Quoted from Porphyry by Eusebius.] " Sanchonia- 
thon of Berytus writes the history of the Jews very 
exactly, and mentions times and places ; taking his 
accounts from the Memoir of Jerombal, priest of the 
god Jevo ; who dedicated his history to Abibal, king of 
Berytus, by whom, as well as by others, his contempo- 
raries, capable judges of the truth, it was approved. 
Their age was before the Trojan times, and approaches 
near to the times of (b) Moses, as is evident from the 
succession of the kings of Phoenicia. Sanchoniathon, 
who with great fidelity wrote their ancient history in 
the Phoenician language, collecting it partly from the 
registers of cities <and partly from the records kept in 
temples, lived in the time of Semiramis, queen of the 
Assyrians, who is computed to have reigned before the 
times of Troy, or about them. The work of Sancho- 
niathon was translated into Greek by Philo Biblius." 

[Quoted by Eusebius.] " And now people wonder (c) 
that this distemper has oppressed the city so many 
years, iEsculapius and the other gods no longer con- 
versing with men. For since Jesus has been honored, 
none have received any public benefits from the gods." 

Review 7 . — It manifestly appears that he [Porphyry] 
was well acquainted with the Scriptures of the Old and 
New Testament. . . . We have observed plain references 
to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John, the Acts of 
the Apostles, and the epistle to the Galatians ; and in 
his remarks upon that epistle, probable references to 
others of St. Paul's epistles. 

58. Hierocles, a. d. 803. [From Lactantius.] " The 
other [Hierocles] treated the same subject more accu- 
rately ; he was then one of the judges, and a principal 
adviser of the persecution ; and not contented with that 
piece of wickedness, he also pursued those with his 
writings whom he had brought into trouble. For he 
composed two books, not entitled, Against the Christ- 






59.] HEATHEN TESTIMONIES. 329 

ians, lest he should seem to bear hard upon theui, but 
'To the Christians,' that he might be thought to advise 
them in a kind and friendly manner : in which books 
he endeavored to show that the sacred (a) scriptures over- 
throw themselves by the contradictions with which they 
abound ; he particularly insisted upon several texts as 
inconsistent with each other : and, indeed, on so many 
and so distinctly that one might suspect he had some 
time professed the religion which he now exposed. How- 
ever, the sacred scriptures may have by some accident 
or other fallen into his hands ; but the scriptures are as 
far from inconsistencies as he was from the truth. But 
he chiefly reviled Paul and Peter, and the other disci- 
ples as propagators of falsehoods; 'who, nevertheless,' 
as he says, ' were ignorant, and illiterate, and some of 
them got their livelihood by fishing ; as if he was dis- 
pleased that some Aristophanes or Aristarchus had not 
handled the subject.' Moreover, this writer endeavors 
to overthrow Christ's (b) miracles, though he does not 
deny the truth of them ; he aims to show that like 
things, or even greater, were done by Apollonius : . . . 
but Apollonius is more able, because, as you say, when 
Domitian would have put him to death he escaped; 
whereas Christ was apprehended and crucified." 

[From Eusebius quoting Hierocles.] " To what pur- 
pose have I mentioned these things ? That all may 
perceive our just and reasonable judgment, and the 
levity of the Christians ; forasmuch as we do not esteem 
him who did these things a god, but a man favored by 
the gods:" ... u It is also reasonable to think that 
the actions of Jesus have been magnified by Peter and 
Paul, and others like them, ignorant men, liars and im- 
postors." 

59. Dioclesian's Persecution oe the Christians, 
a. d. 303-313. 

Observations. — In the first edict for the persecu- 
tion, as we learn from Eusebius, the sacred (a) scriptures 
were ordered to be burnt ; and so far as we know, this 
is the first imperial edict of that kind. . . . Dioclesian's 
persecution (b) was very grievous : indeed, it was the 



330 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [60. 

longest and worst that the Christians had ever endured. 
Sulpicius Severus says, "Never was the world more 
wasted by any war." 

60. The Emperor Julian, a. d. 361. 

[Quoted by Cyril.] " I think it right for me to show 
to all men the reasons by which I have been convinced 
that the religion of the Galileans is a human contrivance, 
badly put together, having in it nothing divine ; but 
abusing the childish irrational part of the soul, which 
delights in fable, they have introduced a heap of won- 
derful works to give it the appearance of truth." . . . 
" That Moses says, God was the God of Israel only and 
of Judea, and that they were his chosen people, I shall 
demonstrate presently ; and that not only he, but the 
prophets after him, and Jesus the Nazarene say the 
same ; yea, and Paul also, who exceeded all the jugglers 
and impostors that ever were." 

" But Jesus having persuaded a few among you, and 
those the worst of men, has now been celebrated about 
three hundred years ; having done nothing in his life- 
time worthy of remembrance ; unless any one thinks it 
a mighty (a) matter to heal lame and blind people, and 
exorcise demoniacs in the villages of Bethsaida and 
Bethany." 

" But you are so unhappy as not to adhere to the 
things delivered to you by the apostles, but they have 
been altered by you for the worse, and carried on to 
yet greater impiety. For neither Paul, nor Matthew, 
nor Luke, nor Mark, have dared to call Jesus God. 
But honest John, understanding that a great multi- 
tude (b) of men in the cities of Greece and Italy were 
seized with this distemper ; and hearing, likewise, as I 
suppose, that the tombs of Peter and Paul were respected 
and frequented, though as yet privately only, however, 
having heard of it, he then first presumed to advance 
that doctrine." ... " But you miserable people, at 
the same time that ye refuse to worship the shield that 
fell down from Jupiter, and is preserved by us, which 
was sent down to us by the great Jupiter, or our father 
Mars, as a certain pledge of the perpetual government 



61.] HEATHEN TESTIMONIES. 331 

of our city ; you -worship the wood of the cross, and 
make signs of it upon your foreheads, and fix it upon 
your doors. Shall we for this most hate the understand- 
ing, or most pity the simple and ignorant among you, who 
are so very unhappy as to leave the immortal gods, and 
go over to a dead Jew?" . . . "You have killed not 
only our people who persisted in the ancient religion, 
hut likewise heretics, equally deceived with yourselves ; 
but who did not mourn the dead man exactly in the 
same manner that you do ? But these are your inven- 
tions ; for Jesus has nowhere directed you to do such 
things ; nor yet Paul. The reason is, that they never 
expected you would arrive at such power. They were 
contented with deceiving maid-servants and slaves, and 
by them some men and women, such as Cornelius and 
Sergius. If there were then any other men of eminence 
brought over to you, I mean in the times of Tiberius 
and Claudius, when these things happened, let me pass 
for a liar in everything I say." 

Letter to Ecditius. — " Some delight in horses, others 
in birds, others in wild beasts ; from my childhood I 
have been always in love with books. Wherefore you 
must do for me this private piece of kindness, to get 
together all George's books. He had a large number 
of books, many philosophical and rhetorical, and also 
many concerning the doctrine of the impious Galileans ; 
which I could wish to have utterly destroyed ; but lest 
books of value should be destroyed with them, let these 
also be carefully sought for. George had a secretary ; 
let him help you. If he serves you faithfully, let him 
be rewarded with freedom. If he endeavors to conceal 
any of his master's books, he may be put to the torture. 
I am not unacquainted with George's books, for when I 
was in Cappadocia, I borrowed some of them, though 
not all, in order to have them transcribed, and then re- 
turned them to him." 

61. LlBAXIUS, A. D. 370. 

[Panegyric on Julian.] " By the guidance of philo- 
sophy he soon wiped off the reproach of impiety, and 
learned the truth, and acknowledged those for gods, 



332 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [63. 

who were such indeed, instead of him. who was only 
thought to be so. That day I call the beginning of 
liberty to the world." 

[Funeral oration upon Julian.] (a) "Indeed, they 
who were in wrong sentiments, were filled with fear, and 
expected pulling out of eyes, beheadings, and rivers of 
blood, flowing from innumerable slaughters ; and that 
this new lord would find out new ways of torture ; and 
that fire, and sword, and drowning, and burying alive, 
and amputation of limbs, would be trifling things. Such 
things had been practised by those who went before ; 
but now more grievous things were expected. But 
Julian dissented from those who had practised such 
things, as not obtaining the end aimed at ; and he was 
sensible, that no benefit was to be expected from such 
violence." 

62. Zosimus, a. d. 425. 

Observations. — These extracts are authentic monu- 
ments of the ancient heathen superstition and credulity, 
and of the zeal with which the rites of Gentilism were 
upheld and defended by all sorts of persons, learned as 
well as unlearned ; and by men of high stations, as well 
as by people of low condition. They did (a) all that lay 
in their power to check or stop the progress of Chris- 
tianity. They would gladly have recovered and restored 
ancient Gentilism. 



Section. VI. Testimony of Heretics. 

THE PRINCIPAL FACTS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ARE 
CONFIRMED BY THE TESTIMONY OF HERETICS. 

63. [From Irengeus.] " Such is the certain truth of 
our Gospels that the heretics themselves bear testimony 
to them, every one of them endeavoring to prove his 

particular doctrine from thence Since therefore 

persons of different sentiments agree with us in making 
use of this testimony, our evidence for the authority of 
those Gospels is certain and unquestionable." 



67.] TESTIMONY OF HERETICS. 333 

64. Basilides, a. d. 112-123. 

Observations. — According to Irenseus, he must have 
disregarded the Old Testament ; or at least he could 
not give the same authority to that, as he did to the 

New (a) As to the New Testament, it doth not 

appear but he received the whole, or at least the greater 
part of it. 

65. Carpocrates and his Followers, [a. d. 120.] 

Observations. — Epiphanius says, " They rejected 
the Old Testament ; perhaps they did : but I do not 
know that to be certain. Possibly, however, the fact 
was only this, they did not respect the instructions of 
Moses and the prophets, equally with those of Christ and 

his apostles I apprehend that they received (a) 

not that Gospel only [Matthew] but the other Gospels 
likewise, and all the other books of the New Testament, 
as they were received by other Christians in their time. 

66. Cerinthus, [a. d. 80-101.] 

Observations. — Cerinthus received the scriptures of 

the Old Testament Upon the whole, it appears 

highly probable that Cerinthus nourished in the latter 
end of the first, or very early in the second century. 
And it is certain, that the Old Testament — and several 
of the books of the New Testament — were received by 
him. 

67. Marcion and his Followers, [a. d. 127-144.] 

Observations. — The Old Testament was altogether 
set aside by him, as proceeding from the Creator, who 
was, in his estimation, void of goodness, and the author 

of all that sin and misery which is in the world 

Marcion received only eleven books of the New Testa- 
ment ; and these strangely curtailed and altered 

By (a) means of this heretic's rejecting some books en- 
tirely, and mutilating others, the ancient Christians were 
led to examine into the evidence for the sacred writings, 
and to compare copies together, and on this account to 
speak of whole books, and particular passages, very fre- 
quently in their works ; which hath enabled us of later 
ages to authenticate these books, and to come at the 



331 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [69. 

genuine reading of many texts, in a better manner than 
we otherwise could have done. 

68. Lucian, or Leucius, [a. d. 135-150.] 
Observations. — One obvious conclusion to be drawn 

from this long account of the forgeries of Leucius is/that 
the scriptures of the New Testament, particularly the 
Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, were then received 
with distinguished respect (a), and regarded as writings 
of great authority ; otherwise he would not have thought 
of publishing books under the names of the evangelists 
and apostles. 

Besides, these forged writings do not oppose, but con- 
firm, (b) the general account given us in the canonical 
scriptures. They all take for granted the dignity of our 
Lord's person, and his power of working miracles ; (c) 
they acknowledge the certainty of there having been 
such persons as Matthew and the other evangelists ; and 
Peter and the other apostles. They authenticate the 
general and leading facts contained in the New Testa- 
ment. They presuppose that the apostles received from 
Christ a commission to propagate his religion, and a 
supernatural power to enforce its authority. And thus 
they indirectly establish the truth and divine original 
of the gospel. 

69. The Montanists, [a. d. 171.] 
Observations. — Theodoret says, that " Montanus 

had two women prophetesses, and called their writings 
prophecies." Afterwards he sajs, that " the prophecies 
of those two women were in greater esteem with the 
Montanists, than the divine gospel ; which surely must 
be an aggravation." .... There can be no good rea- 
son to doubt that they received all the books of the 
Old and New Testament which other Christians did, and 
with like respect. 

[Here end the quotations from Lardner.] 



70.] TESTIMONY OF MONUMENTS. 335 



Section VII. Testimony of Monuments. 

THE FACTS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT ARE CONFIRMED 
BY EXISTING MONUMENTS. 

The church, the Christian sabbath, and the ordinances 
of baptism and the Lord's supper, are monuments con- 
firming the principal facts of the New Testament. Some 
material monuments also exist by which Christian facts 
are confirmed. 

70. Coins and Medals. 

[From Wilson's Evidences.] St. Luke terms Phi- 
lippi a colony, using a word which implies that it was a 
Latin colony ; l but as this betokens a favor which such 
a city had little reason to expect, critics were embar- 
rassed to account for the title, till some coins were 
brought to light, which expressly mention, that Julius 
Caesar himself had bestowed the dignity on it. 

Again, the town clerk of Ephesus (states our sacred 
author 2 ), in order to quell a tumult, thus addressed the 
Ephesians : " What man is there that knoweth not how 
that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great 
goddess Diana?" The original word is NE9.K0P0Z, 
literally temple-sweeper, equivalent to our church- 
warden, an appellation taken by cities which were dedi- 
cated to the service of some god or goddess. Now there 
are medals still extant, on which the front of the temple 
of Diana is exhibited. In the centre is an image of the 
goddess ; and around the side and bottom is an inscrip- 
tion, in which the Ephesians are called by this very 
term. Besides the testimony furnished by this medal, 
there is now extant at Ephesus an ancient Greek in- 
scription, which not only confirms the general history 
related in Acts, xix., but even approaches to several 
sentiments and phrases w T hich occur in that chapter. 

1 Acts, xvi. 11, 12. * Acts, xix. 35. 

29 y 



336 historical evidence. [71. 

71. Catacombs. 
From Raivlinsons Historical Evidences. 

As when we tread the streets of Pompeii, we have 
the life of the old pagan world brought before us with 
a vividness which makes all other representations appear 
dull and tame, so when we descend into the Catacombs 
of Rome we seem to see the struggling, persecuted com- 
munity which there "in dens and caves of the earth," 
wrought itself a hidden home ; whence it went forth at last 
conquering and to conquer, triumphantly establishing 
itself on the ruins of the old religion, and bending its hea- 
then persecutors to the yoke of Christ. Time was when 
the guiding spirits of our church not only neglected the 
study of these precious remnants of an antiquity which 
ought to be far dearer to us than that of Greece or pagan 
Rome, of Egypt, Assyria, or Babylon, — but even ven- 
tured to speak of them with contempt, as the recent crea- 
tions of papal forgers, who had placed among the arena- 
rise, or sandpits of heathen times, the pretended memo- 
rials of saints who were never born, and of martyrs who 
never suffered. But, with increased and improved wis- 
dom, modern Anglicans have renounced this shallow and 
untenable theory ; and it is at length admitted univer- 
sally, alike by the Protestant and the Romanist, that 
the Catacombs themselves, their present contents, and 
the series of inscriptions which have been taken from 
them and placed in the papal galleries, are genuine re- 
mains of primitive Christian antiquity, and exhibit to 
us — imperfectly no doubt — but so far as their evidence 
extends, truly the condition and belief of the Church 
of Christ in the first ages. 

For it is impossible to doubt that the Catacombs 
belong to the earliest times of Christianity. It was 
only during the ages of persecution that the Christians 
were content to hide away the memorials of their dead 
in gloomy galleries deep below the earth's surface, 
where few eyes could ever rest on them. With liberty 
and security came the practice of burying within and 
around the churches, which grew up on all sides ; and 
though undoubtedly the ancient burial-places would not 



71.] TESTIMONY OF MONUMENTS. 337 

have been deserted all at once, since habit and affection 
would combine to prevent such disuse, yet still from the 
time of Constantine burying in the Catacombs must 
have been on the decline, and the bulk of the tombs in 
them must be regarded as belonging to the first three 
centuries. The fixed dates obtainable from a certain 
number of tombs confirm this view ; and the style of 
ornamentation and form of the letters used in the in- 
scriptions are thought to be additional evidence of its 
correctness. 

What, then, is the evidence of the Catacombs ? (a) 
In the first place, it is conclusive as to the vast number 
of the Christians in these early ages, when there Avas 
nothing to tempt men, and everything to disincline 
them, towards embracing the persecuted faith. The 
Catacombs are calculated to extend over nine hundred 
miles of streets, and to contain almost seven millions of 
graves. The Roman Christians, it will be remembered, 
are called by Tacitus "a vast multitude" — (ingens mul- 
titudo) — in the time of Nero ; by the age of Valerian 
they are reckoned at one-half the population of the 
city ; but the historical records of the past have never 
been thought to indicate that their number approached 
at all near to what this calculation — which seems fairly 
made — would indicate. Seven millions of deaths in (say) 
four hundred years, would, under ordinary circumstances, 
imply an average population of from five hundred thou- 
sand to seven hundred thousand — an amount immensely 
beyond any estimate that has hitherto been made of the 
number of Roman Christians at any portion of the 
period. Perhaps the calculation of the number of 
graves may be exaggerated, and probably the proportion 
of deaths to population was, under the peculiar circum- 
stances, unusually large ; but still the evidence of vast 
numbers which the Catacombs furnish cannot wholly 
mislead ; and we may regard it as established beyond 
all reasonable doubt, that in spite of the general con- 
tempt and hatred, in spite of the constant ill usage to 
which they were exposed, and the occasional " fiery 
trials" which proved them, the Christians, as early as 



338 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [71. 

the second century, formed one of the chief elements in 
the population of Rome. 

(b) In the next place, the Catacombs afford proof of 
the dangers and sufferings to which the early Christians 
were exposed. Without assuming that the phials which 
have contained a red liquid, found in so many of the 
tombs, must have held blood, and that therefore they 
are certain signs of martyrdom, and without regarding 
the palm branch as unmistakable evidence of the same, 
we may find in the Catacombs a good deal of testimony 
confirmatory of those writers, who estimate at the high- 
est, the number of Christians who suffered death in the 
great persecutions. The number of graves, if we place 
it at the lowest, compared with the highest estimate of 
the Christian population that is at all probable, would 
give a proportion of deaths to population enormously 
above the average — a result which at any rate lends 
support to those who assert that in the persecutions of 
Aurelius, Decius, Diocletian, and others, vast multitudes 
of Christians were massacred. Further, the word 
martyr is frequent upon the tombs ; and often where it 
is absent, the inscription otherwise shows that the de- 
ceased lost his life on account of his religion. Some- 
times the view opens on us, and we see, besides the in- 
dividual buried, a long vista of similar sufferers — as 
when one of Aurelius's victims exclaims: — " unhappy 
times, in which amid our sacred rites and prayers, — in 
the very caverns, — we are not safe ! What is more 
wretched than our life ? What more wretched than a 
death, when it is impossible to obtain burial at the hands 
of friends or relatives ? Still at the end they shine like 
stars in heaven. A poor life is his, who has lived in 
Christian times !" 

(c) Again, the Catacombs furnish a certain amount 
of evidence with respect to the belief of the early 
Christians. The doctrine of the resurrection is implied 
or expressed on almost every tombstone which has been 
discovered. The Christian is not dead — he "rests" or 
"sleeps" — he is not buried, but "deposited" in his 
grave — and he is always " at peace," (in pace). The 



71.] TESTIMONY OF MONUMENTS. 339 

survivors do not mourn his loss despairingly, but express 
trust, resignation, or moderate grief. The Anchor, in- 
dicative of the Christian's "sure and certain hope," is a 
common emblem ; and the Phoenix and Peacock are 
used as more speaking signs of the Resurrection. The 
Cross appears, though not the Crucifix ; and other em- 
blems are employed, as the Dove and the Cock, which 
indicate belief in the (d) sacred narrative as we possess 
it. There are also a certain number of pictures in the 
Catacombs ; and these represent ordinarily historical 
scenes from the Old or New Testament, treated in a 
uniform and conventional way, but clearly expressive 
of belief in the facts thus represented. The temptation 
of Eve — Moses 'striking the rock — Noah welcoming the 
return of the Dove — Elijah ascending to heaven — Daniel 
among the lions — Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego in 
the fiery furnace — Jonah under the gourd — Jonah 
swallowed by the whale — and Jonah vomited out on the 
dry land, are the favorite subjects from the Old Testa- 
ment ; while from the New Testament, we find the adora- 
tion of the wise men — their interview with Herod — the 
Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist — the healing of 
the paralytic — the turning of water into wine — the feed- 
ing of the five thousand — the raising of Lazarus — the 
Last Supper — Peter walking on the sea — and Pilate 
washing his hands before the people. St. Peter and St. 
Paul are also frequently represented, and St. Peter 
sometimes bears the keys, in plain allusion to the gra- 
cious promise of his Master. The parabolic teaching 
of our Lord is sometimes embodied by the artists, who 
never tire of repeating the type of the " Good Shep- 
herd," and who occasionally represent the sower going 
out to sow and the parable of the wise and foolish vir- 
gins. In this way, indirect evidence is borne to the 
historic belief of the early church, which does not 
appear to have differed at all from that of orthodox 
Christendom at the present day. 
29 * 



340 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [72. 



72. Section VIII. Internal Proof. 

THE NEW TESTAMENT CONTAINS INTERNAL PROOF OF 
ITS HISTORIC TRUTH. 

Paley, in his excellent work called Horse Paulinse, 
has conclusively demonstrated the truth of the New 
Testament history, by bringing to view undesigned co- 
incidences between the epistles of Paul and the Acts 
of the Apostles. The value of these coincidences arises 
from their not being apparent to a careless observer ; 
and hence the investigation of them requires an amount 
of labor which renders it impossible to condense the 
work of Paley. The following extract will give a speci- 
men of the mode of argument which he has employed. 

No. 1. 

The first passage I shall produce from this epistle, 
and upon which a good deal of observation will be 
founded, is the following : 

"But now I go unto Jerusalem, to minister unto the 
saints ; for it hath pleased them of Macedonia and 
Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor 
saints which are at Jerusalem." Rom. xv. 25, 26. 

In this quotation three distinct circumstances are 
stated — a contribution in Macedonia for the relief of the 
Christians of Jerusalem, a contribution in Achaia for 
the same purpose, and an intended journey of St. Paul 
to Jerusalem. These circumstances are stated as taking- 
place at the same time, and that to be the time when the 
epistle was written. Now let us inquire whether we 
find these circumstances elsewhere ; and whether, if we 
do find them, they meet together in respect of date. 
Turn to the Acts of the Apostles, chap. xx. ver. 2, 3, 
and you read the following account : — " When he had 
gone over those parts (viz. Macedonia), and had given 
them much exhortation, he came into Greece, and there 
abode three months ; and when the Jews laid wait for 
him, as he teas about to sail into Syria, he proposed to 
return through Macedonia." 



72.] INTERNAL PROOF. 341 

From this passage, compared with the account of St. 
Paul's travels given before, and from the sequel of the 
chapter, it appears that upon St. Paul's second, visit to 
the peninsula of Greece, his intention was, when he should 
leave the country, to proceed from Achaia directly by 
sea to Syria ; but that, to avoid the Jews, who were 
lying in wait to intercept him in his route, he so far 
changed his purpose as to go back through Macedonia, 
embark at Philippi, and pursue his voyage from thence 
to Jerusalem. Here, therefore, is a journey to Jeru- 
salem ; but not a syllable of any contribution. And 
as St. Paul had taken several journeys to Jerusalem 
before, and one also immediately after his first visit 
into the peninsula of Greece, 1 it cannot from hence be 
collected in which of these visits the epistle was written, 
or, with certainty, that it was written in either. The 
silence of the historian, who professes to have been with 
St. Paul at the time, 2 concerning any contribution, 
might lead us to look out for some different journey, or 
might induce us perhaps to question the consistency of 
the two records, did not a very accidental reference, in 
another part of the same history, afford us sufficient 
ground to believe that this silence was omission. 

"When St. Paul made his reply before Felix to the 
accusations of Tertullus, he alleged, as was natural, 
that neither the errand which brought him to Jerusalem, 
nor his conduct whilst he remained there, merited the 
calumnies with which the Jews had aspersed him. 
"Now after many years (i. e. of absence) I came to 
bring alms to my nation and offerings ; whereupon cer- 
tain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, 
neither with multitude nor with tumult, who ought to 
have been here before thee, and object, if they had 
aught against me." Acts, xxiv. 17-19. 

This mention of alms and offerings certainly brings 
the narrative in the Acts nearer to an accordancy with 
the epistles ; yet no one, I am persuaded, will suspect 
that this clause was put into St. Paul's defence, either 



1 Acts, xviii. 21. 2 Acts, xx. 6. 



342 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [72. 

to supply the omission in the preceding narrative, or 
with any view to such accordancy. 

After all, nothing is yet said or hinted concerning 
the place of the contribution ; nothing concerning Ma- 
cedonia and Achaia. Turn, therefore, to the First Epis- 
tle to the Corinthians, chap. xvi. ver. 1-4, and you have 
St. Paul delivering the following directions : " Concern- 
ing the collection for the saints, as I have given orders 
to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye; upon the 
first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in 
store as God hath prospered him, that there be no gather- 
ings when I come. And when I come, whomsoever ye 
shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring 
your liberality unto Jerusalem ; and if it be meet that 
I go also, they shall go with me." In this passage we 
find a contribution carrying on at Corinth, the capital 
of Achaia, for the Christians of Jerusalem; we find 
also a hint given of the possibility of St. Paul going up 
to Jerusalem himself, after he had paid his visit unto 
Achaia : but this is spoken of rather as a possibility 
than as any settled intention ; for his first thought was, 
" Whomsoever you shall approve by your letters, them 
will I send to bring your liberality to Jerusalem;" and 
in the sixth verse he adds " That ye may bring me on 
my journey whithersoever I go." This epistle purports 
to be written after St. Paul had been at Corinth ; for it 
refers throughout to what he had done and said amongst 
them whilst he was there. The expression, therefore, 
"when I come" must relate to a second visit ; against 
which visit the contribution spoken of was desired to be 
in readiness. 

But though the contribution in Achaia be expressly 
mentioned, nothing is here said concerning any contri- 
bution in Macedonia. Turn, therefore, in the third 
place, to the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, chap, 
viii. ver. 1-4, and you will discover the particulai 
which remains to be sought for : " Moreover, brethren, 
we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the 
churches of Macedonia ; how that, in a great trial of 
affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep 



72.] INTERNAL PROOF. 343 

poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality : 
for to their power, I bear record, yea and beyond their 
power, they were willing of themselves ; praying us, 
with much entreaty, that we would receive the gift, and 
take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the 
saints." To which add, chap. ix. ver. 2 : "I know the 
forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to 
them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago." 
In this epistle we find St. Paul advanced as far as Ma- 
cedonia, upon that second visit to Corinth which he pro- 
mised in his former epistle : we find also in the passages 
now quoted from it, that a contribution was going on in 
Macedonia at the same time with, or soon, however, fol- 
lowing, the contribution which was made in Achaia; 
but for whom the contribution was made does not appear 
in this epistle at all : that information must be supplied 
from the first epistle. 

Here, therefore, at length, but fetched from three 
different writings, Ave have obtained the several circum- 
stances we inquired after, and which the Epistle to the 
Romans brings together, viz. a contribution in Achaia 
for the Christians of Jerusalem ; a contribution in Ma- 
cedonia for the same : and an approaching journey of 
St. Paul to Jerusalem. We have these circumstances — 
each by some hint in the passage in which it is men- 
tioned, or by the date of the writing in which the pas- 
sage occurs — fixed to a particular time ; and we have 
that time turning out upon examination to be in all the 
scone; namely, towards the close of St. Paul's second 
visit to the peninsula of Greece. 

This is an instance of conformity beyond the possi- 
bility, I will venture to say, of random writing to pro- 
duce. I also assert, that it is in the highest degree im- 
probable that it should have been the effect of contriv- 
ance or design. The imputation of design amounts to 
this : that the forger of the Epistle to the Romans in- 
serted in it the passage upon which our observations are 
founded, for the purpose of giving color to the forgery 
by the appearance of conformity with other writings 
which were then extant, I reply, in the first place, that, 



844 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [72. 

if he did this to countenance his forgery, he did it for 
the purpose of an argument which would not strike one 
reader in ten thousand. Coincidences so circuitous as 
this answer not the ends of forgery ; are seldom, 
I believe, attempted by it. In the second place, I ob- 
serve, that he must have had the Acts of the Apostles, 
and the two epistles to the Corinthians before him at 
the time. In the Acts of the Apostles (I mean that 
part of the Acts which relates to this period), he would 
have found the journey to Jerusalem ; but nothing 
about the contribution. In the First Epistle to the 
Corinthians he would have found a contribution going 
on in Achaia for the Christians of Jerusalem, and a dis- 
tant hint of the possibility of the journey ; but nothing 
concerning a contribution in Macedonia. 

In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians he would 
have found a contribution in Macedonia accompanying 
that in Achaia ; but no intimation for whom either was 
intended, and not a word about the journey. 

It was only by a close and attentive collation of the 
three writings, that he could have picked out the cir- 
cumstances which he has united in this epistle ; and by 
a still more nice examination, that he could have deter- 
mined them to belong to the same period. In the 
third place, I remark, what diminishes very much the 
suspicion of fraud, how aptly and connectedly the men- 
tion of the circumstances in question, viz., the journey 
to Jerusalem, and of the occasion of that journey, arises 
from the context, " Whensoever I take my journey into 
Spain, I will come to you ; for I trust to see you in my 
journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by 
you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company. 
But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints ; 
for it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to 
make a certain contribution for the poor saints ivhich are 
at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily, and their 
debtors they are ; for if the Gentiles have been made 
partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to 
minister to them in carnal things. When, therefore, I 
have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I 



72.] 



INTERNAL PEOOF. 



345 



will come by you into Spain." Is the passage in italics 
like a passage foisted in for an extraneous purpose? 
Could anything be more natural than that St. Paul, in 
writing to the Romans, should speak of the time when 
he hoped to visit them ; should mention the business 
which then detained him ; and that he proposed to set 
forward upon his journey to them when that business 
was completed?" 

The undesigned coincidences examined by Paley, are, 



in number, as follows 


: — 










Romans . . . . . . 8 


1 Corinthians 










12 


2 Corinthians 










12 


Galatians 










10 


Ephesians 

Philippians 

Colossians 










5 

7 
4 


1 Thessalonians 








6 


2 Thessalonians 








3 


1 Timothy 

2 Timothy 
Titus 








5 
5 

2 


Philemon 










4 



In all 



83 



In every case the agreement between the historian 
and the writer of the epistle, is shown to be undesigned 
on the part of both. The supposition that eighty-three 
such agreements have all happened by chance, is wholly 
inadmissible. No supposition remains but that the 
authors agree with each other because they wrote with 
truthful regard to facts of which they possessed common 
knowledge ; and therefore these undesigned coincidences 
establish the truth of the New Testament history by an 
argument which is perfectly conclusive. 



346 historical evidence. [74, 



73. Section IX. Old Testament History. 

THE HISTORY CONTAINED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT COIN- 
CIDES WITH THE MOST AUTHENTIC RECORDS AND ME- 
MORIALS OE ANTIQUITY. 

Iii the preceding part of this work the truth of the 
history contained in the Old Testament was proved by 
first establishing the divine inspiration of the volume. 
In the present section proof to the same effect will be 
adduced from the coincidence of this history with the 
most authentic records and memorials of antiquity. The 
former proof is conclusive ; but the satisfaction which it 
affords to the mind will be heightened by the discovery 
that a different and independent proof of the same truth 
may be derived from another source. 

This section consists chiefly of extracts from " The 
Historical Evidences of the Truth of the Scripture 
Records, by George Rawlinson, M. A." These extracts 
are included within single quotation marks. 

74. I. Creation and the Deluge. 

Very few records and memorials of antiquity now 
exist with which the Mosaic history, contained in the 
first five books of the Bible, may be compared. ' The 
only reliable authority that we possess besides the Pen- 
tateuch for the history of the period which it embraces 
consists of some fragments of Berosus, Manetho, an 
epitome of the early Egyptian history of the latter, a 
certain number of Egyptian and Babylonian inscriptions, 
and two or three valuable papyri.' 

' Nothing has been said here of (a) Sanchoniathon, in 
the first place, because it seems more than probable that 
the work ascribed to him was the mere forgery of Philo 
Byblius ; and secondly, because though called a " Phoe- 
nician history," the fragments of the work which 
remain show it to have been mainly, if not entirely, 
mythological.' 

For the earliest history of the world it is especially 
Babylon which furnishes an account capable of being 



74.] OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 347 

compared with that of Moses. The leading facts of 
this cosmogony and antediluvian history are manifestly, 
and indeed confessedly, in close agreement with the 

Hebrew records Between the first man and the 

deluge are, in the scheme of Berosus, ten generations, 
which is the exact number between Adam and Noah ; 
and though the duration of human life is in his account 
enormously exaggerated, we may see even in this exag- 
geration a glimpse of the truth, that the lives of the 
patriarchs were extended far beyond the term which has 
been the limit in later ages. This truth seems to have 
been known to many of the ancients, and traces of it 
have even been found among the modern Burmans and 
Chinese. .... The account which Berosus gives of 
the deluge is still more strikingly in accordance with the 
narrative of scripture. "Xisuthrus," he says, " was 
warned by Saturn in a dream that all mankind would 
be destroyed shortly by a deluge of rain. He was bid- 
den to bury in the city of Sippara (or Sepharvaim) such 
written documents as existed ; and then to build a huge 
vessel or ark." He proceeds with the history of the 
deluge, agreeing very nearly with that given by Moses. 
. . . . ' Such is the account of Berosus ; and a descrip- 
tion substantially the same is given by Abydenus, an 
ancient writer of whom less is known, but whose frag- 
ments are generally of great value and importance. It 
is plain that we have here a tradition not drawn from 
the Hebrew record, much less the foundation of that 
record ; yet coinciding with it in the most remarkable 
way.' 

In giving the scriptures by the instrumentality of in- 
spired men, God made room for the use of their mental 
faculties, their personal memory of events which they 
had witnessed, and the knowledge which it was in their 
power to acquire from tradition and written records. 
The opportunity of Moses to obtain knowledge of pri- 
meval history by tradition, was superior to that of any 
writer with whom he can be compared. ' Adam, accord- 
ing to the Hebrew original, was for two hundred and 
forty-three years contemporary with Methuselah, who 
30 



348 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [76. 

conversed for one hundred years with Shem. Shem was 
for fifty years contemporary with Jacob, who probably 
saw Jochebed, Moses' mother. Thus Moses might, by 
mere oral tradition, have obtained the history of Abra- 
ham and even of the deluge, at third hand ; and that 
of the temptation and the fall at fifth hand.' The piety 
which prevailed in the ancestors of Moses inclined them 
to transmit carefully to their descendants correct know- 
ledge of God's dealings with them. Hence, without 
taking into account the inspiration with which the book 
of Genesis was written, its records deserve to be re- 
ceived as credible history, and certainly more reliable 
than any other in the possession of mankind. More- 
over, tradition may not have been the only source of 
information. ' What we know of the antiquity both in 
Egypt and Babylonia, renders it not improbable that the 
art of writing was known and practised soon after the 
flood, if it was not even (as some have supposed), a 
legacy from the antediluvian world.' 

75. 2. Babel. — Writers, whose Babylonian history 
seems drawn directly from him (Berosus), or from the 
sources which he used, give the following account of the 
tower of Babel, and the confusion of tongues : " At this 
time the ancient race of men were so puffed up with their 
strength and tallness of stature that they began to 
despise and contemn the gods ; and labored to erect that 
very lofty tower, which is now called Babylon, intend- 
ing thereby to scale heaven. But when the building 
approached the sky, behold, the gods called in the aid 
of the winds, and by their help overturned the tower 
and cast it to the ground. The name of the ruins is 
still called Babel ; because until this time all men had 
used the same speech, but now there was sent upon 
them a confusion of many and diverse tongues." 

76. 3. Origin of Nations. — ' The Toldoth Beni 
Noah ["the generations of the sons of Noah," Gen. x.] 
has extorted the admiration of modern ethnologists, 
who continually find in it anticipations of their greatest 

discoveries On the whole, the scheme of ethnic 

affiliation, given in the tenth chapter of Genesis, is pro- 



79.] OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 349 

nounced "safer" to follow than any other; and the 
Toldoth Beni Noah commends itself to the ethnic 
inquirer as " the most authentic record that we possess 
for the affiliation of nations," and as a document " of 
the very highest antiquity." ' 

77. 4. Gen. xiv. 2-12. < We obtain a double wit- 
ness [from the fragments of Berosus and from the 
monuments] to the remarkable fact of an interruption 
of pure Babylonian supremacy at this time ; and from 
the monuments we are able to pronounce that the su- 
premacy was transferred to Elam, and that under a 
king, the Semitic form of whose name would be Chedor- 
laomer, a great expedition was organized, which pro- 
ceeded to the distant and then almost unknown west, 
and returned after " ravaging" but not conquering those 
regions.' 

78. 5. Exodus of the Israelites. — ' The Exodus of 
the Jews was an event which could scarcely be omitted 
by Manetho. It was one, however,- of such a nature — 
so entirely repugnant to all the feelings of an Egyptian 
— that we could not expect a fair representation of it in 
their annals. And accordingly our fragments of Ma- 
netho present us with a distinct but very distorted 
notice of the occurrence. . . . We have here the op- 
pression, the name Moses, the national name Hebrew, 
under the disguise of Abaris, and the true direction of 
the retreat, which is said by Manetho to have been "into 
Syria."' 

79. 6. Modern discoveries confirming the Penta- 
teuch. — If we look to the geography we shall find that 
till within these few years " Erech, and Accad, and 
Calneh, in the land of Shinar," 1 Caleh and Resen, 
in the country peopled by Asshur, 2 Ellasar, and " Ur 
of the Chaldees," 3 were mere names ; and beyond the 
mention of them in Genesis, scarcely a trace was dis- 
coverable of their existence. Recently, however, the 
mounds of Mesopotamia have been searched, and bricks 

1 Gen. x. 10. 2 Gen. x. 11, 12. 3 Gen. xi. 31 : xiv. 1. 



350 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [80. 

and stones buried for near three thousand years have 
found a tongue, and tell us exactly where each of these 
cities stood, and sufficiently indicate their importance. 
Again, the power of Og and his "threescore cities," all 
fenced with high walls, gates, and bars, besides un walled 
towns a great many, 1 in such a country as that to the 
east of the Sea of Galilee, whose old name of Tracho- 
nitis indicates its barrenness, seemed to many improba- 
ble — but modern research has found in this very country 
a vast number of walled cities still standing, which show 
the habits of the ancient people, and prove that the 
population must at one time have been considerable. 
So the careful examination that has been made of the 
valley of the Jordan which has resulted in the proof 
that it is a unique phenomenon, utterly unlike anything 
elsewhere on the whole face of the earth, tends greatly 
to confirm the Mosaic account, that it became what it 
now is by a great convulsion ; and by pious persons will, 
I think, be felt as confirming the miraculous character 
of that convulsion. ' Above all, perhaps, the absence of 
any counter-evidence — the fact that each accession to 
our knowledge of the ancient times, whether historic or 
geographic or ethnic, helps to remove difficulties, and 
to produce a perpetual supply of fresh illustrations of 
the Mosaic narrative ; while fresh difficulties are not at 
the same time brought to light, is to be remarked, as to 
candid minds, an argument for the historic truth of the 
narrative, the force of which can scarcely be over esti- 
mated. All tends to show that we possess in the 
Pentateuch, not only the most authentic account of 
ancient times that has come down to us, but a history 
absolutely and in every respect true. 

80. 7. Joshua s Conquest of Canaan. — ' Moses of 
Chorene, the Armenian historian, Procopius, the secre- 
tary of Belisarius, and Suidas, the lexicographer, re- 
late that there existed in their day at Tingis (or Tan- 
giers), in Africa, an ancient inscription to the effect that 
the inhabitants were descendants of those fugitives who 

1 Deut. iii. 5. 



84.] OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 351 

were driven from the land of Canaan by Joshua, the 
son of Nun, the plunderer.' 

81. 8. Sidon and Tyre. — ' The notices of Phoenicia 
in Scripture are completely in accordance with what we 
have thus gathered from profane sources. While Sidon 
alone appears to have been known to Moses (Gen. x. 15), 
and Tyre occurs in Joshua as a mere stronghold, in 
marked contrast with imperial Sidon, "great Sydon," 
as she is called more than once, 1 whose dominion seems to 
extend along the coast to Carmel, and certainly reaches 
inland as far as Laish. 2 In Samuel and Kings the case 
is changed ; Sidon has no longer a distinctive epithet, 3 
and it is the " king of Tyre," who on behalf of his coun- 
trymen makes advances to David, and who is evidently 
the chief Phoenician potentate of the period.' 

82. 9. Hiram. — ' That Hiram was really a Phoenician 
name, and one which kings were in the habit of bearing, is 
certain from the Assyrian inscriptions, and from Hero- 
dotus, as well as from the Phoenician historians, Dius 
and Menander. And these last-named writers not only 
confirm the name as one which a king of Tyre might 
have borne, but show moreover that it was actually 
borne by the Tyrian king contemporary with Solomon 
and David, of whom they relate circumstances which 
completely identify him with the monarch who is stated 
in Scripture to have been on such friendly terms with 
those princes. They do not indeed appear to have 
made any mention of David ; but they spoke distinctly 
of the close connection between Hiram and Solomon.' 

83. 10. Solomon. — 'The wealth and magnificence 
of Solomon were celebrated by Eupolemus and Theophi- 
lus, the former of whom gave an elaborate account of 
the temple and its ornaments.' 

84. 11. Use of Gold. — ' The copious use of gold 
in ornamentation, which seems to moderns so improbable, 
was a practice known to the Phoenicians, the Assyrians, 
and the Babylonians.' 

1 Josh. xi. 8. 2 Judges, xvii. 7, 23. 3 2 Sam. xxiv. 6. 

30* z 



352 HISTORICAL E V I D B N C E. [89. 

85. 12. Phoenicians. — ' The wealth, the enterprise, 
the maritime skill, and the eminence in the arts which 
were the leading characteristics of the Phoenicians in 
Homer's time,, are abundantly noted by the writers of 
Kings and Chronicles ; who contrast the comparative 
ignorance and rudeness of their own nation with the 
science and " cunning" of their neighbors.' 1 

86. 13. Judah and Israel. — ' The separate existence 
of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah is abundantly 
confirmed by the Assyrian inscriptions.' 

87. 14. Shishak. — ' The first great event 'in the 
kingdom of Judah after the separation from Israel, was 
the invasion of Judea by Shishak, king of Egypt, in 
the fifth year of Rehoboam.' 2 ' This success is found 
to have been commemorated by Shishak on the outside 
of the great temple at Karnac ; and here, in a long list 
of captured towns and districts which Shishak boasts of 
having added to his dominions, occurs the " Melchi 
Yuda," or kingdom of Judah, the conquest of which by 
this king is thus distinctly noticed in the Egyptian 
records.' 

88. 15. Aliab. — ' Ahab, king of Israel, is represented 
as having sought to strengthen himself in the position 
which his father had usurped, by a marriage with a for- 
eign princess, and as having made choice for the pur- 
pose of " Jezebel, daughter of Eth-Bal, king of the 
Zidonians." 3 Here again not only have we a genuine 
Phoenician name, but we have the name of a king who 
is proved by the Tyrian history of Menander to have 
been seated upon the throne exactly at this time.' 

89. 16. 1 Kings, xx. 1-25. — < We have in the cunei- 
form annals of an Assyrian king, a very curious and 
valuable confirmation of the power of Damascus at 
this time — of its being under the rule of a monarch 
named Ben-hadad, who was at the head of a great con- 

1 1 Kings, v. 6 ; 2 Chron. ii. 7 ; 1 Kings, vii. 14 ; 2 Chron. ix. 
26, 27. 

2 2 Chron. xii. 3. 3 1 Kings, xvi. 31. 



93.] OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 353 

fcderacy of princes, and who was able to bring into the 
field year after year vast armies, with which he re- 

repeatedly engaged the whole force of Assyria 

The same record further verifies the historical accuracy 
of the Books of Kings by a mention of Hazael as king 
of Damascus immediately after Ben-hadad, and also 
by the s/nchronism which it establishes between this 
prince and Jehu, who is the first Israelite king mentioned 
by name on any inscription hitherto discovered.' 

90. 17. Assyrian Kings. — ' The successors of Pul 
are represented to us by the Biblical writers, apparently 
in a continuous and uninterrupted line — Tiglath-Pileser, 
Shalmeneser, Sargon, Sennacherib, and Esar-haddon, 
all of them carrying their arms into Palestine, and play- 
ing an important part in the history of the favored race. 
It happens most fortunately (may we not say providen- 
tially ?) that records of all these monarchs — the greatest 
which Assyria produced — have been recovered ; and 
these in some cases are sufficiently full to exhibit a close 
agreement with the sacred narrative, while throughout 
they harmonize with the tenor of that narrative, only in 
one or two cases so differing from the Hebrew text as 
to cause any difficulty.' 

91. 18. 2 Kings, xviii. 13, 14.—' The annals of 
Sennacherib contain a full account of this campaign.' 

92. 19. 2 Kings, xviii. 37. — ' It has been generally 
seen and confessed, that the marvellous account which 
Herodotus gives of the discomfiture of Sennacherib by 
S ethos, is the Egyptian version of this event, which was 
(naturally enough) ascribed by that people to the inter- 
position of its own divinities.' 

93. 20. Transfer of the Empire to Babylon. — With 
Esar-haddon the notices of Assyria in the sacred history 
come to an end. Assyria herself shortly afterwards 
disappears ; and her place is taken by Babylon, which 
now for the first time becomes a great conquering power. 
This transfer of empire is abundantly confirmed by pro- 
fane authorities. 



354 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [96. 

94. 21. The Captivity.—' The fundamental fact of 
the time — the Captivity itself — is allowed on all hands 
to admit of no reasonable doubt. Not only do we find, 
from the monuments of the Assyrian kings and the subse- 
quent history of Persia, that such transfers of whole 
populations w T ere common in the East in ancient times ; 
but we have the direct evidence of Josephus to the fact, 
that Berosus mentioned the carrying off of the Jews 
by Nebuchadnezzar and their settlement in parts of 
Babylonia.' 

95. 22. Nebuchadnezzar. — \ The splendor and mag- 
nificence which this prince displayed, his military suc- 
cesses, his devotion to his gods, and the pride which he 
took in adorning Babylon with great buildings, are 
noted by Berosus and Abydenus. Nine-tenths of the 
inscribed bricks from the site of Babylon are stamped 
with Nebuchadnezzar's name. The length of Nebuchad- 
nezzar's reign is stated, without any variety, by Berosus, 
Polyhistor, and Ptolemy, at forty-three years. The 
Babylonian monuments go near to prove the same ; for 
the forty-second year of Nebuchadnezzar has been found 
on a clay tablet. Here Scripture is in exact accordance.' 

98. 23. Belshazzar. — Profane history makes Na- 
bonadius the last monarch of Babylon, and states that 
he was absent when the city was taken. It was difficult 
to reconcile this account with that given in the book of 
Daniel, where Belshazzar appears as the last king, and 
as slain in the capture of the city. Infidels triumphed 
in the supposed truth that Daniel's history was fictitious ; 
but out of all this confusion and uncertainty a very 
small and simple discovery, made a few years since, has 
educed order and harmony in a very remarkable way. 
It is found that Nabonadius, the last king of the Canon, 
associated with him on the throne during the later years 
of his reign his son, Bil-shar-nzur, and allowed him the 
royal title. There can be little doubt that it was this 
prince who conducted the defence of Babylon, and was 
slain in the massacre which followed upon the capture ; 
while his father, who was at the time in Borsippa, sur- 



99.] OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 355 

rendered, and experienced the clemency which was 

generally shown to fallen kings by the Persians 

Sir H. Rawlinson made this important discovery in the 
year 1854, from documents obtained at Mugheir, the 
ancient Ur. The fact that two persons were at the 
time associated in the exercise of regal power, accords 
with and explains the promise of Belshazzar to Daniel 
to make him " the third ruler in the kingdom." 1 

97. 24. Conquest of Babylon. — ' The fact of the sud- 
den and unexpected capture of Babylon by a Medo-Persic 
army during the celebration of a festival, and of the 
consequent absorption of the Babylonian into the Medo- 
Persic Empire, is one of those manifest points of 
agreement between Scripture and profane authors 
which speak for themselves, and on which all com- 
ment would be superfluous.' 

98. 25. Duration of the Captivity. — ' It can be clearly 
shown from a comparison of Berosus with Ptolemy's 
Canon, that, according to the reckoning of the Babylo- 
nians, the time between Nebuchadnezzar's first conquest 
of Judea in the reign of Jehoiakim, and the year fol- 
lowing the fall of Babylon, when Daniel made his prayer, 
was sixty-eight years, or two years only short of the 
seventy which had been fixed by Jeremiah as the dura- 
tion of the Captivity.' 2 

99. 26. Religiousness of the Persians : Ezra, i. 2, 3 ; 
vi. 8-10; vii. 12, 13. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 23.— < Two 
things are especially remarkable in these passages : first, 
the strongly marked religious character very unusual 
in heathen documents ; and, secondly, the distinctness 
with which they assert the unity of God, and thence 
identify the God of the Persians with the God of the 
Jews. Both these points receive abundant illustration 
from the Persian cuneiform inscriptions, in which the 
recognition of a single supreme God, Ormazd, and the 
clear and constant ascription to him of the direction of 
all mundane affairs, are leading features. In all the 

1 Dan. v. 16. 2 Dan. ix. 19. 



356 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. [101. 

Persian monuments of any length, the monarch makes 
the acknowledgment that " Ormazcl had bestowed on 
him his empire." Every success that is gained is " by 
the grace of Ormazd." The name of Ormazd occurs 
in almost every other paragraph of the Bchistun 
inscription. No public monuments with such a per- 
vading religious spirit have ever been discovered among 
the records of any heathen nation as those of the Per- 
sian kings ; and through all of them, clown to the time 
of Artaxerxes Ochus, the name of Ormazd stands alone 
and unapproachable as that of the Supreme Lord of 
earth and heaven.' 

100. 27. Ahasuerus [Xerxes in Greek history.] — 
' Proud, self-willed, amorous, careless of contravening 
Persian customs ; reckless of human life, yet not actu- 
ally bloodthirsty ; impetuous, facile, changeable — the 
Ahasuerus of Esther corresponds in all respects to the 
Greek portraiture of Xerxes, which is not (be it ob- 
served) the mere picture of an Oriental despot, but has 
various peculiarities which distinguish it from the other 
Persian kings, and which, I think it may be said, indi- 
vidualize it. . . . We know far too little of the domes- 
tic history of Xerxes from profane sources to pronounce 
the position which Esther occupies in his harem impos- 
sible or improbable.' 

101. 28. Persian Customs. — ' The intimate acquaint- 
ance which the book of Esther shows in many passages 
with Persian manners and customs, has been acknow- 
ledged even by De Wette, who regards it as composed 
in Persia on that account.' 



CHAPTER II. 
FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. 

102. Section I. In the Old Testament. 

The prophecies of the Old Testament are so numer- 
rous and extensive that a complete account of their 
fulfilment would make a history of the world. The 
examination of the subject in Chapter VI. was ne- 
cessarily restricted to the most important predictions, 
and to a very brief notice of these, (a) For proof of 
the historical facts there mentioned as fulfilments of 
prophecy, the reader is referred to Bishop Newton's 
"Dissertations on the Prophecies," in which valuable 
work he will find the subject treated at length, and with 
great ability. Two extracts from it are here subjoined, 
illustrating two very ancient prophecies ; and a third 
explaining the division of the Roman empire into ten 
kingdoms. Many other useful extracts might be added, 
if space for them could be allowed. 

103. Enlargement of Japheth. 
The territories of Japheth's posterity were indeed 
very large, for, besides all Europe, great and extensive 
as it is, they possessed the lesser Asia, Media, parts of 
Armenia, Iberia, Albania, and those vast regions to- 
wards the north which anciently the Scythians inhabited, 
and now the Tartars inhabit ; and it is not improbable 
that the New World was peopled by some of his north- 
ern descendants passing thither by the straits of Anian. 
The enlargement of Japheth may also denote a numerous 
progeny as well as ample territory ; and if you consult 
the genealogies of the three brothers comprised in the 
following chapter, you will find that Japheth had seven 
sons, whereas Ham had only four, and Shem only 

(357) 



358 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. [104. 

five ; and the northern hive (as Sir William Temple de- 
nominates it) was always remarkable for its fecundity, 
and hath been continually pouring forth swarms, and 
sending out colonies into the more southern parts, both 
in Europe and in Asia, both in former and in latter 
times. 

104. The Ishmaelites unsubdued and preserved. 
The next great conquerors of the east [after the 
Egyptians and Assyrians] were Cyrus and the Per- 
sians ; but neither he nor any of his successors ever 
reduced the whole body of the Arabs to subjection. 
They might some of the exterior, but never reached the 
interior parts of the country. . . . Alexander the 
Great overturned the Persian Empire and conquered 
Asia. The neighboring princes sent their ambassadors 
to make their submissions. The Arabs alone disdained 
to acknowledge the conqueror, and scorned to send any 
embassy, or to take any notice of him. This slight 
provoked him to such a degree, that he meditated an 
expedition against them, and the great preparations he 
made for it showed that he thought them a very formi- 
dable enemy ; but death intervened and put an end to 
all that his ambition or resentment had framed against 
them. Thus they happily escaped the fury of his arms, 
and were never subdued by any of his successors. . . . 
The Romans invaded the East, and subdued the coun- 
tries adjoining, but were never able to reduce Arabia 
into the form of a Roman province. . . . Such was 
the state and condition of the Arabs to the time of their 
favorite prophet Mohammed, who laid the foundations 
of a mighty empire ; and then for several centuries they 
were better known among the European nations by the 
name of the Saracenni or Saracens, the Aracensi of 
Pliny, and the Hagarenes of the Holy Scripture. . . . 
After their empire was dissolved, and they were reduced 
within the limits of their native country, they still main- 
tained their liberty against the Tartars, Mamalucs, 
Turks, and all foreign enemies whatever. Whoever 
were the conquerors of Asia, they were still uncon- 
quered, still continued their incursions, and preyed upon 



105.] IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 359 

all alike. . . . Who can fairly consider and lay all 
these particulars together, and not perceive the hand of 
God in this whole affair from the beginning to the end ? 
. . . Who but God, or one raised and commissioned 
by him, could describe the genius and manners, not only 
of a single person before he was born, but of a whole 
people from the first founder of the race to the present 
time ? . . . How could a single nation stand out against 
the enmity of the whole world for any length of time, 
and much more for near four thousand years together ? 
The great empires around them have all in their turn 
fallen to ruin, while they have continued the same from 
the beginning, and are likely to continue the same to 
the end ; and this in the natural course of things was so 
highly improbable, if not altogether impossible, that as 
nothing but a divine prescience could have foreseen it, 
so nothing but a divine power could have accomplished 
it. . . . These are the only people besides the Jews, 
who have subsisted as a distinct people from the be- 
ginning. 

105. Division of the Roman Empire into ten 
Kingdoms. 

The Roman empire, as the Romanists themselves 
allow, was by means of the incursions of the northern 
nations, dismembered into ten kingdoms ; and Machia- 
vel, little thinking what he was doing (as Bishop Chand- 
ler observes), hath given us their names ; 1. the 
Ostrogoths in Mcesia, 2. the Visigoths in Pannonia, 3. 
the Sueves and Alans in Gascoigne and Spain, 4. the 
Vandals in Africa, 5. the Franks in France, 6. the 
Burgundians in Burgundy, 7. the Heruli and Turingi 
in Italy, 8. the Saxons and Angles in Britain, 9. the 
Huns in Hungary, 10. the Lombards at first upon the 
Danube, afterwards in Italy. 

Mr. Mede reckons up the ten kingdoms thus in the 
year 456, the year after Rome was sacked by Genseric, 
king of the Vandals : 1. the Britons, 2. the Saxons in 
Britain, 3. the Franks, 4. the Burgundians in France, 
5. the Wisigoths in the south of France and part of 
Spain, 6. the Sueves and Alans in Gallicia and Portu- 
31 



360 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. [107 

gal, 7. the Vandals in Africa, 8. the Alemanes in 
Germany, 9. the Ostrogoths whom the Longobarcls 
succeeded in Pannonia, and afterwards in Italy, 10. the 
Greeks in the residue of the empire. 

[After giving enumerations from other authors, 
showing that at different periods the number ten agreed 
well with the division of the empire — ] Not that there 
were constantly ten kingdoms, they were sometimes 
more, and sometimes fewer ; but as Sir Isaac Newton 
says, " whatever was their number afterwards they are 
still called the ten kings from their first number." 

106. Section II. In the Gospels. 

Having established in Chapter V. that the New Tes- 
tament is a book of "truthful history," we refer to it 
for proof (a) that Christ's predictions were fulfilled con- 
cerning his death and resurrection, the labors and 
sufferings of his apostles, and the extensive spread of 
the gospel. The facts which prove the exact fulfilment 
of the remarkable prophecies concerning the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem, (b) have been stated at length by 
Lardner 1 and Newton, 2 and confirmed by quotations 
from Josephus and other authors. A few testimonies 
on this subject have been quoted in Chapter I. of this 
appendix, articles 49 a, 50, 56, but for a full account 
the reader is referred to the " History of the Jewish 
War" by Josephus, who was an eye-witness of the event, 
and an actor in its scenes. 

The most doubtful part of the testimony given by 
Josephus respecting the destruction of Jerusalem, is the 
following passage : — 

107. Prodigies preceding the Destruction of 
Jerusalem. 
" Thus was this miserable people deceived by impos- 
tors, who spoke lies in the name of God. But they did 
not attend nor give credit to those prodigies which evi- 
dently foretold their future desolation ; but like men 
infatuated, who have neither eyes to see nor minds to 
consider, they disregarded the divine denunciations. 

1 Vol. VI. pp. 392-479. 2 Diss. 18-21. 



107.] IN THE GOSPELS. 361 

There was a star, a comet resembling a sword, which 
stood over the city and continued for a year. And 
before the rebellion, and before the war broke out, 
when the people were come together in great multitudes 
to the feast of unleavened bread on the eighth day of 
the month of April, at the ninth hour of the night, so 
great a light shone round the altar and the temple, that 
it seemed to be bright day : which light continued for 
half an hour. This, to the unskilful, seemed to be a 
good sign ; but, by the sacred scribes, it was judged to 
portend what has since happened. And at the same 
festival a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be 
sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the 
temple. Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner court 
of the temple, which was of brass, and very heavy, 
which was not without difficulty shut in the evening by 
twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, 
and was fastened with bolts that went deep into the 
floor which was made of one entire stone ; was seen to 
open of its own accord at the sixth hour of the night : 
whereupon they who kept watch at the temple went to 
the captain and told him of it. He then came thither, 
and not without difficulty had it shut again. This also 
appeared to the vulgar a good sign : as if thereby God 
opened to them the gates of happiness. But the wiser 
men concluded the security of the temple was gone, and 
that the gate was opened for the advantage of their 
enemies ; and they said it was a signal of the desolation 
that was coming upon them. Besides these, a few 
days after that festival, on the one-and-twentieth day 
of May there appeared a wonderful phenomenon, almost 
exceeding belief; and the account of it might seem 
fabulous if it had not been related by those who saw it, 
and if the following events had not been answerable to 
such signs : for before sunset chariots and troops in 
armor were seen carried upon the clouds, and surround- 
ing cities. And at the festival, which we call the 
Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the 
inner court of the temple, as the custom was, to perform 
their ministrations, they first felt, as they said, a shak- 



362 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. [107. 

ing, accompanied by a noise, and after that a sound 
as of a multitude, saying, ' Let us remove hence.' But, 
which is still more awful, there was one Jesus, son of 
Ananus, of a low condition, and a countryman, who 
four years before the war began, when the city enjoyed 
profound peace and flowing prosperity, came up to the 
festival, in which it is the custom for us all to make 
tabernacles, who on a sudden began to cry out in the 
temple : ' A voice from the east, a voice from the west, 
a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem 
and the temple, a voice against the bridegrooms and the 
brides, a voice against the whole people.' This was his 
cry, as he went about both by day and by night, in all 
the lanes of the city. Some of the chief men were 
offended at this ill-boding sound,- and, taking him up, 
laid many stripes upon him, and had him beaten 
severely. Yet he said not a word for himself, nor made 
any peculiar complaint to them that beat him ; but went 
on repeating the same words that he had said before. 
Hereupon, the magistrates, thinking it to be something 
more than ordinary, as indeed it was, bring him before 
the Roman governor ; where he was whipped till his 
bones were laid bare. All which he bore without 
shedding any tears or making any supplications ; but 
with a mournful voice at every stripe, cried out, ' Woe 
to Jerusalem.' Albinus, the governor, asked him who 
he was, and whence he came, and why he uttered those 
words. To all which he made no answer, but continued 
making his mournful denunciations to the city. Albi- 
nus, thinking him to be mad, dismissed him. And, 
thenceforward, to the time of the war, he did not go to 
any of the citizens ; nor was he seen speaking to any ; 
but only went on with his mournful denunciation, as if 
it had been his premeditated vow : ' Woe, woe to Jeru- 
salem.' He did not give ill-language to those who 
beat him, as many did frequently ; nor did he thank 
those who gave him food : but went on repeating to all 
the doleful presage. But especially at festivals, his cry 
was the loudest. And so it continued for seven years 
and five months, without his growing hoarse, or being 



107.] IN THE REVELATION OF JOHN. 3G3 

tired therewith, till he saw his presage in the siege; 
then he ceased : for going round upon the wall, with 
his utmost force he cried out : ' Woe, woe once more 
to the city, and to the people, and to the temple.' 
And then at last he added : ' Woe, woe to myself also.' 
At which instant there came a stone out of one of the 
engines that smote him, and killed him immediately ; 
and whilst he was uttering these mournful presages, he 
gave up the ghost." 

On this passage the following remarks are offered : — 

1. It corresponds with Christ's prediction that there 
would be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. 1 

2. No one can suppose that Josephus, a Jew and an 
enemy of Christianity, wrote this passage to prove the 
fulfilment of Christ's prophecy. 3. Though some of 
the prodigies related by Josephus may be justly discre- 
dited, the whole account cannot be rationally rejected. 
Some of the alleged facts must have been witnessed by 
multitudes, if they occurred as the historian has related : 
and if they did not, he knew, when he penned his his- 
tory, that there were multitudes who could bear witness 
to its falsehood. 4. No one has a right to assume that 
there were no supernatural events attending this extra- 
ordinary judgment of God. 5. But if none of the 
prodigies were supernatural there may still have been 
"fearful sights and great signs from heaven." As the 
sun and moon are "signs" 2 in heaven, and the rainbow 
in the cloud "a token" 3 of mercy; so extraordinary 
meteors in the sky, filling men's minds with terror, may, 
even though not miraculously produced, have been used 
by Providence to awaken men from security, and warn 
them of approaching evil. 

Section III. In the Revelation of John. 

The following extracts from Gibbon's Decline and 
Fall of the Roman Empire show the fulfilment of pro- 
phecies contained in the book of Revelation. A mar- 
ginal analysis is added, with references to the several 

1 Luke. xxi. 11. a Gen. i. 14. 3 Gen. ix. 13. 

31* 



364 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. [108. 

prophecies. If the propriety and expressiveness of the 
symbols used in the prophecies should not be apparent 
to the reader, he will do well to consult Barnes's Notes 
on the Book of Revelation. 

Extracts. 

108. 1. If a man were called to fix a period in 
The Roman the history of the world, during which 
pe^ous!a P nd S en- the condition of the human race was most 
qu r e g st d b Kev n vi. na PPy an d prosperous, he would, without hesi- 
2 - tation, name that which elapsed from the death 
of Domitian to the accession of Ccmmodus. The vast 
extent of the Roman Empire was governed by absolute 
power, under the guidance of virtue and wisdom. The 
armies were restrained by the firm but gentle hands of 
four successive emperors, whose characters and authority 
commanded universal respect. The forms of the civil ad- 
ministration were carefully preserved by Nerva, Trajan, 
Hadrian, and the Antonines, who delighted in the image 
of liberty, and were pleased with considering themselves 
as the accountable ministers of the laws. Such princes 
deserved the honor of restoring the republic, had the 
Romans of their days been capable of enjoying a rational 
freedom The praises of Alexander, trans- 
mitted by a succession of poets and historians, had kin- 
dled a dangerous emulation in the mind of Trajan. 
Like him, the Roman emperor undertook an expedition 
against the nations of the East. . . . The success of 
Trajan, however transient, was rapid and specious. 
The degenerate Parthians, broken by intense discord, 
fled before his arms. . . . Every day the astonished 
senate received the intelligence of new names and new 
nations that acknowledged his sway. They were informed 
that the kings of Bosphorus, Colchos, Iberia, Albania, 
Osrhoene, and even the Parthian monarch himself, had 
accepted their diadems from the hand of the emperor ; 
that the independent tribes of the Median and Car- 
duchian hills had implored his protection ; and that the 
rich countries of Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria 
were reduced into the state of provinces. 



109.] IN THE REVELATION OF JOHN. 365 

109. 2. When Commodus had once tasted human 
blood, he was incapable of pity or remorse. 
The tyrant's rage, after having shed the no- «vu wars, 
blest blood of the senate, at length recoiled 
on the principal instrument of his cruelty. . . . His 
cruelty proved at last fatal to himself. He had shed 
with impunity the best blood of Rome ; he perished as 

soon as he was dreaded by his own domestics 

After a reign of sixty-six days, Julian was' beheaded in 
a private apartment of the baths of the palace. [After 
a detailed account of the two civil wars against Niger 
and Albinus, rival competitors for the empire, both of 
whom were vanquished, and both of whom were put to 
death in their flight from the field of battle.] Although 
the wounds of civil war were apparently healed, its 
mortal poison still lurked in the vitals of the constitu- 
tion It was computed that, under the vague 

appellation of the friends of Geta, above twenty thou- 
sand persons of both sexes suffered death. . . Caracalla 
was the common enemy of mankind. Every province 
was by turns the scene of his rapine and cruelty. In 
the midst of peace and repose, upon the slightest provo- 
cation, he issued his commands at Alexandria, in Egypt, 
for a general massacre. From a secure post in the tem- 
ple of Serapis, he viewed and directed the slaughter of 
many thousand citizens, as well as strangers, without 
distinguishing either the number or the crime of the 
sufferers. 

[Then follows the account of the assassination of 
Caracalla; then, and in consequence of that, of the 
civil war which crushed Macrinus, and raised Elagabalus 
to the throne ; then of the life and follies of that 
wretched voluptuary, and of his massacre by the prc- 
torian guards ; then, after an interval of thirteen years, 
of the murder of his successor, the second Severus, on 
the Rhine ; then of the civil wars excited against his 
murderer and successor, Maximin, in which the two 
emperors of a day, the Gordians — father and son — 
perished in Africa, and Maximin himself and his son in 
the siege of Aquileia ; then of the murder at Rome of 



366 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. [110. 

the two joint emperors, Maximus and Balbinus ; and 
quickly after that . an account of the murder of their 
successor in the empire, the third and youngest Gordian, 
on the banks of the river Aboras ; then of the slaughter 
of the next emperor, Philip, together with his son and 
associate in the empire, in the battle near Verona ; — and 
this state of things may be said to have continued until 
the accession of Diocletian to the empire, A. d. 284.] 

110. 3. Nor was the rapacious son of Severus 
[Caracalla] contented with such a measure of 
ation. Ear. vi. taxation as had appeared sufficient to his 
moderate predecessors. Instead of a twen- 
tieth, he exacted a tenth of all legacies and inheritances ; 
and during his reign he crushed alike every part of the 

empire under the weight of his iron sceptre 

[After noticing some relief by Alexander from the ex- 
cessive taxation.] But the noxious weed, which had 
not been totally eradicated, again sprung up with the 
most luxuriant growth, and in the succeeding age dark- 
ened the Roman world with its deadly shade. In the 
course of this history we shall be too often summoned 
to explain the land tax, the capitation, and the heavy con- 
tributions of corn, wine, oil, and meat which were exacted 
of the provinces for the use of the court, the army, and 

the capital About that time the avarice of 

Galerius [who, as Caesar, acted under the authority of 
Diocletian ; who excited Diocletian to the work of per- 
secution ; and who, on the abdication of Diocletian, 
assumed the title of Augustus], or perhaps the exigen- 
cies of the state, had induced him to make a very strict 
and rigorous inquisition into the property of his subjects 
for the purpose of a general taxation, both on their 
lands and on their persons. A very minute survey ap- 
pears to have been taken of their real estates ; and 
wherever there was the slightest concealment, torture 
was very freely employed to obtain a sincere declaration 
of their real wealth. 

[A particular order, under this oppressive 
wine. Key. vi. system of taxation, was sent forth in the fol- 
lowing words] : — If any one shall sacrilegi- 



112.] IN THE REVELATION OF JOHN. 367 

ously cut a vine, or stint the fruit of prolific boughs, 
and craftily feign poverty in order to avoid a fair assess- 
ment, he shall immediately, on detection, suffer death, 
and his property be confiscated. 

111. 4. [Speaking of the period embracing the 
reigns of Decius, Gallus, iEniilianus, Vale- 
rian, and Gallienus :] From the great secular from war, fain- 
games celebrated by Philip to the death lence. b^. vl 
of the emperor Gallienus, there elapsed 

twenty years of shame and misfortune. During this 
calamitous period, every instant of time was marked, 
every province of the Roman world was afflicted by bar- 
barous invaders and military tyrants, and the wearied 
empire seemed to approach the last and fatal moment of 

its dissolution The whole period [speaking of 

the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus] was one uninter- 
rupted series of confusion and calamity. The Roman 
empire was, at the same time, and on every side, 
attacked by the blind fury of foreign invaders and the 

wild ambition of domestic usurpers A long and 

general famine was a calamity of a more serious kind. 
It was the inevitable consequence of rapine and oppres- 
sion, which extirpated the produce of the present, and 

the hope of future harvests Famine is almost 

always followed by epidemical diseases, the eifect of 
scanty and unwholesome food. Other causes must, how- 
ever, have contributed to the furious plague, which, 
from the year two hundred and fifty to the year two 
hundred and sixty-five, raged without interruption in 
every province, every city, and almost every family in 
the Roman empire. During some time, five thousand 
persons died daily at Rome ; and many towns that had 
escaped the hands of the barbarians were entirely de- 
populated [After computing the deaths at 

Alexandria]. Could one venture to extend the analogy 
to the other provinces, we might suspect that war, pesti- 
lence, and famine had consumed in a few years the 
moiety of the human species. 

112. 5. The design of Diocletian's persecution was 



3C8 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. [113. 



pcrsecuti n ^ ie destruction °f Christianity The 

christians. edict against Christians was designed for a 

Rev. vi. 9-11. ^ O 

general law of the whole empire. . . . The 
resentment, or the fears of Diocletian, at length trans- 
ported him beyond the bounds of moderation, which 
he had hitherto preserved, and he declared, in a series 
of edicts, his intention of abolishing the Christian name. 
By the first of these edicts, the governors of the pro- 
vinces were directed to apprehend all persons of the 
ecclesiastical order ; and the prisons, destined for the 
vilest criminals, were soon filled with a multitude of 
bishops, presbyters, deacons, and exorcists. By a second 
edict, the magistrates were commanded to employ every 
method of severity which might reclaim them from their 
odious superstition, and oblige them to return to the 
established worship of the gods. This rigorous order 
was extended, by a subsequent edict, to the whole body 
of Christians, who were exposed to a violent and general 
persecution. Instead of those solitary restraints which 
had required the direct and solemn testimony of an 
accuser, it became the duty as well as the interest of the 
imperial officers to discover, to pursue, and to torment 
the most obnoxious among the faithful. Heavy penal- 
ties were denounced against all who should presume to 
save a proscribed sectary from the just indignation of 
the gods and of the emperors. 

113. 6. A. D. 865. In the second year of the reign 
of Valentinian and Valens, on the morn- 
in the appre- ing of the twenty-first day of July, the 
vine judgments, greatest part of the Roman world was shaken 
by a violent and destructive earthquake. . . . 
The impression was communicated to the waters ; the 
shores of the Mediterranean were left dry by the sudden 
retreat of the sea ; great quantities of fish were caught 
with the hand ; large vessels were stranded on the mud ; 
and a curious spectator amused his eye, or rather his 
fancy, by contemplating the various appearances of 
valleys and mountains, which had never before, since 
the formation of the globe, been exposed to the sun. 
But the tide soon returned, with the weight of an im- 



113.] IN TliE REVELATION OF JOHN. 369 

mense and irresistible deluge, which was severely felt 
on the coasts of Sicily, of Dalmatia, of Greece, and of 
Egypt : large boats were transported and lodged on the 
roofs of houses, or at the distance of two miles from the 
shore ; the people with their habitations were swept 
away by the waters ; and the city of Alexandria annually 
commemorated the day on which fifty thousand persons 
had lost their lives in the inundation. This calamity, 
the report of which was magnified from one province to 
another, astonished and terrified the subjects of Rome ; 
and their affrighted imagination enlarged the real extent 
of the momentary evil. They recollected the preceding 
earthquakes which had subverted the cities of Palestine 
and Bithynia ; they considered these alarming strokes 
as the prelude only of still more dreadful calamities, 
and their fearful vanity was disposed to confound the 
symptoms of a declining empire and a sinking world. . . . 
In the disastrous period of the fall of the Roman empire, 
which may justly be dated from the reign of Valens, the 
happiness and security of each individual was personally 
attacked ; and the arts and labors of ages were rudely 
defaced by the barbarians of Scythia and Germany. . . 
[Describing the consternation produced by the invasion 
of Alaric, king of the Visigoths], The apprehensions 
of each individual were increased in just proportion to 
the measure of his fortune ; and the most timid, who had 
already embarked their valuable effects, meditated their 
escape to the island of Sicily, or to the African coast. 
The public distress was aggravated by the fears and 
reproaches of superstition. Every hour produced some 
horrid tale of strange and particular accidents ; the 
pagans deplored the neglect of omens, and the interrup- 
tion of sacrifices ; but the Christians still derived some 
comfort from the powerful intercession of the saints and 
martyrs. 

[Speaking of the time of Constantine], The threaten- 
ing tempest of barbarians, which so soon 
subverted the foundations of Roman great- p?."»ded. Rev. 
ness, was still repelled, or suspended on the 
frontiers. 



370 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. [114. 

114. 7. The correspondence of the nations was, in 
that age, so imperfect and precarious, that 
Goths. Rev. the revolutions of the North might escape the 
knowledge of the court of Ravenna ; till the 
dark cloud, which was collected along the coast of the 
Baltic, burst in thunder upon the banks of the Upper 
Danube. The king of the confederate Germans passed, 
without resistance, the Alps, the Po, and the Apennines ; 
leaving on the one hand the inaccessible palace of 
Honorius securely buried among the marshes of Ra- 
venna ; and on the other the camp of Stilicho, who had 
fixed his head-quarters at Ticinium, or Pavia, but who 
seems to have avoided a decisive battle till he had as- 
sembled his distant forces. Many cities of Italy were 
pillaged, or destroyed. The senate and people trem- 
bled at their approach within a hundred and eighty 
miles of Rome ; and anxiously compared the danger 
which they had escaped, to the new perils to which they 
were exposed. . . The king of the Goths, who no longer 
dissembled his appetite for plunder and revenge, ap- 
peared in arms under the walls of the capital ; and the 
trembling senate, without any hope of relief, prepared, 
by a desperate effort, to delay the ruin of their country. 
But they were unable to guard against the conspiracy 
of their slaves and domestics ; who either from birth or 
interest were attached to the cause of the enemy. At 
the hour of midnight, the Salarian gate was silently 
opened, and the inhabitants were awakened by the 
tremendous sound of the Gothic trumpet. Eleven hun- 
dred and sixty-three years after the foundation of Rome, 
the imperial city,' which had subdued and civilized so con- 
siderable a part of mankind, was delivered to the licen- 
tious fury of the tribes of Germany and Scythia. . . . 
This scene of peace and plenty [along the banks of the 
Rhine] was suddenly changed into a desert ; and the 
prospect of the smoking ruins could alone distinguish 
the solitude of nature from the desolation of man. The 
flourishing city of Mentz was surprised and destroyed; 
and many thousand Christians were inhumanly mas- 
Sacred in the church. Worms perished after a long and 



115.] IN THE REVELATION OF JOHN. 37 J. 

obstinate siege ; Strasburg, Spires, Rheims, Tournay, 
Arras, Amiens, experienced the cruel oppression of the 
German yoke ; and the consuming flames of war spread 
from the banks of the Rhine over the greatest part of 
the seventeen provinces of Gaul. That rich and exten- 
sive country, as far as the ocean, the Alps, and the 
Pyrenees, was delivered to the barbarians, who drove 
before them, in a promiscuous crowd, the bishop, the 
senator, and the virgin, laden with the spoils of their 
houses and altars. 

115. 8. The experience of navigation, and perhaps 
the prospect of Africa, encouraged the Van- 
dals to accept the invitation which they thevandais. 
received from Count Boniface [to aid him in 
his apprehended difficulties with Rome, and to enter into 
an alliance with him by settling permanently in Africa] ; 
and the death of Genseric [the Vandal king] served 
only to forward and animate the bold enterprise. In 
the room of a prince, not conspicuous for any supe- 
rior powers of the mind or body, they acquired his 
bastard brother, the terrible Genseric, a name, which, 
in the destruction of the Roman empire, has deserved an 
equal rank with the names of Alaric and Attila. . . . 
The discovery and conquest of the Black nations [in 
Africa], that might dwell beneath the torrid zone, could 
not tempt the rational ambition of Genseric ; but he 
cast his eyes towards the sea ; he resolved to create a 
naval power, and his bold resolution was executed with 
steady and active perseverance. The woods of Mount 
Atlas afforded an inexhaustible supply of timber ; his 
new subjects were skilled in the arts of navigation and 
ship-building ; he animated his daring Vandals to em- 
brace a mode of warfare which would render any mari- 
time country accessible to their arms ; the Moors and 
Africans were allured by the hope of plunder ; and after 
an interval of six centuries, the fleets that issued from 
the port of Carthage again claimed the empire of the 
Mediterranean. The success of the Vandals, the con- 
quest of Sicily, the sack of Palermo, and the frequent 
descents on the coast of Lucania, awakened and alarmed 
32 



372 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. [116. 

the mother of Valentinian, and the sister of Theodosius. 
Alliances were formed ; and armaments, expensive and 
ineffectual, were prepared for the destruction of the com- 
mon enemy, who reserved his courage to encounter those 
dangers which his policy could not prevent or elude. 
The revolutions of the palace, which left the Western 
empire without a defender, and without a lawful prince, 
dispelled the apprehension, and stimulated the avarice 
of Genseric. He immediately equipped a numerous 
fleet of Vandals and Moors, and cast anchor at the 
mouth of the Tiber. On the third day after the tumult" 
[a. d. 455, on the death of Maximus], Genseric boldly 
advanced from the port of Ostia to the gates of the de- 
fenceless city. Instead of a sally of the Roman youth, 
there issued from the gates an unarmed and venerable 
procession of the bishop at the head of his clergy. But 
Rome and its inhabitants were delivered to the licen- 
tiousness of the Vandals and the Moors, whose blind 
passions revenged the injuries of Carthage. The pillage 
lasted fourteen days and nights ; and all that yet re- 
mained of public or private wealth, of sacred or profane 
treasure, was diligently transported to the vessels of 
Genseric. 

116. 9. The favorite of Mars [as Attila was re- 
garded] soon acquired, a sacred character, 
Rev'viii. which rendered his conquests more easy and 
more permanent ; and the barbarian princes 
confessed, in the language of devotion or flattery, that 
they could not presume to gaze, with a steady eye, on 

the divine majesty of the king of the Huns In 

the reign of Attila, the Huns again became the terror 
of the world ; and I shall now describe the character 
and actions of that formidable barbarian who alternately 
invaded and insulted the east and the west, and urged 
the rapid downfall of the Roman empire. . . . The 
indignant lover [Attila] took the field, passed the Alps, 
invaded Italy, and besieged Aquileia with an innumera- 
ble host of barbarians. ... A large breach was made 
in the part of the wall where the stork had taken her 
flight ; the Huns marched to the assault with irresistible 



Aftila's inva 
10, 11 



117.] IN THE REVELATION OF JOHN. 373 

fury ; and the succeeding generation could scarcely dis- 
cover the ruins of Aquileia. After this dreadful chastise- 
ment, Attila pursued his march ; and as he passed, the 
cities of Altinum, Concordia, and Padua, were reduced 
into heaps of stones and ashes. The inland towns, 
Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo, were exposed to the 
rapacious cruelty of the Huns. Milan and Pavia sub- 
mitted, without resistance, to the loss of their wealth, 
and applauded the unusual clemency which preserved 
from the flames the public, as well as the private build- 
ings, and spared the lives of the captive multitude. The 
popular traditions of Comum, Turin, or Modena, may 
be justly suspected, yet they concur with more authentic 
evidence to prove that Attila spread his ravages over 
the rich plains of modern Lombardy, which are divided 
by the Po, and bounded by the Alps and the Apennines. 
.... The revolution, which subverted the empire of 
the Huns, established the fame of Attila, whose genius 
alone had sustained the huge and disjointed fabric. 

117. 10. Odoacer led a wandering life among the 
barbarians of Noricum, with a mind and 
fortune suited to the most desperate adven- power trans- 

-. , i i -i r* i i • i 1 ferred to barba- 

tures ; and when he had fixed his choice he rians. Rev. 
privily visited the cell of Severinus, the 
popular saint of the country, to solicit his approbation 
and blessing. The lowness of the door would not 
admit the lofty stature of Odoacer ; he was obliged to 
stoop ; but in that humble attitude the saint could dis- 
cern the symptoms of his future greatness ; and address- 
ing him in a prophetic tone, " Pursue," said he, "your 
design ; proceed to Italy ; you will cast away the coarse 
garment of skins ; and your wealth will be adequate to 
the liberality of your mind." The barbarian, whose 
daring spirit accepted and ratified this prediction, was 
admitted into the service of the Western empire, and 
soon obtained an honorable rank in the guards. His 
manners were gradually polished, his military skill im- 
proved, and the confederates of Italy would not have 
elected him for their general unless the exploits of Odoa- 
cer had established a high opinion of his courage and 



374 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. [118. 

capacity. Their military acclamations saluted him 
with the title of king ; but he abstained during his 
whole reign from the use of the purple and diadem, lest 
he should offend those princes, whose subjects, by their 
accidental mixture, had formed the victorious army 
which time and policy might insensibly unite into a 

great nation Odoacer was the first barbarian 

who reigned in Italy, over a people who had once 
asserted their superiority above the rest of mankind. 
.... Pope Gelasius was a subject of Odoacer; and 
he affirms with strong exaggeration, that in Aemelia, 
Tuscany, and the adjacent provinces, the human species 
was almost extirpated. One-third of those ample estates, 
to which the ruin of Italy is originally imputed, was 
extorted for the use of the conquerors. 

118. 11. One hundred years after his [Moham- 
The Saracens, med's] flight from Mecca, the arms and 
Rev. ix. i-u. re ig ns f hi s successors extended from India 
to the Atlantic ocean, over the various and distant pro- 
vinces, which may be comprised under the names of 
Persia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, and Spain. 

\_Order given to the Saracens when invading Syria. — 
Remember that you are always in the presence of God, 
on the verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, 
and the hope of paradise. Avoid injustice and oppres- 
sion, consult with your brethren, and study to procure 
the love and confidence of your troops. When you 
fight the battle of the Lord, acquit yourselves like men, 
vegetation and without turning your backs ; but let not the 
spaced. lif Kev. victory be stained with the blood of women 
ix. 4,5. or children. Destroy no palm trees, nor 

burn any fields of corn. Cut down no fruit trees, nor 
do any mischief to cattle only such as you kill to eat. 
When you make any covenant or article, stand to it, 
and be as good as your word. As you go on you will 
find some religious persons who live retired in monaste- 
ries, and propose to themselves to serve God in that 
way ; let them alone and neither kill them.] .... In 
the siege of Tayaf, sixty miles from Mecca, Mahomet 
violated his own laws, by the extirpation of the fruit 



118.] IN THE REVELATION OF JOHN. 375 

trees The means of persuasion had been tried, 

the season of forbearance was elapsed, and he was now 
commanded to propagate his religion by the sword, to 
destroy the monuments of idolatry, and with- 

*■ ** Idolaters de- 

out regarding the sanctity of days or months, stayed. Rev. 
to pursue the unbelieving nations of the 
earth .... The fair option of friendship, or submis- 
sion, or battle, was proposed to the enemies of Moham- 
med A victorious line of march had been 

prolonged above a thousand miles from the rock of 
Gibraltar to the mouth of the Loire ; the repetition of 
an equal space would have carried the Saracens to the 
confines of Poland, and the highlands of Scotland. The 
Rhine is not more impassable than the Nile or the 
Euphrates, and the Arabian fleet might have sailed 
without a naval combat into the mouth of the Thames. 
Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be 
taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might 
demonstrate to a circumcised people, the sanctity and 

truth of the revelations of Mahomet The calm 

historian who strives to follow the rapid course of the 
Saracens, must study to explain, by what means the 
church and state were saved from this impending and, 
as it should seem, inevitable danger. 

[A change under the reign of the caliph Abdalrah- 
man.] The luxury of the caliphs, so useless to their 
private happiness, relaxed the nerves, and 
terminated the progress of the Arabian em- menting.it 

m i j - •'. i , i i length term ma- 

pire. lemporal and spiritual conquest had ted. Rev. ix. 5, 
been the sole occupation of the successors of 
Mahomet ; and after supplying themselves with the 
necessaries of life, the whole revenue was scrupulously 
devoted to that salutary work. The Abassides were 
impoverished by the multitude of their wants, and their 
contempt of economy. Instead of pursuing the great 
object of ambition, their leisure, their affections, and 
the powers of their minds, were diverted by pomp and 
pleasure : the rewards of valor were embezzled by 
women and eunuchs, and the royal camp was encum- 
bered by the luxury of the palace. A similar temper 
32* 



376 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. [119. 

was diffused among the subjects of the caliph. Their 
stern enthusiasm was softened by time and prosperity ; 
they sought riches in the occupations of industry, fame 
in the pursuits of literature, and happiness in the tran- 
quillity of domestic life. War was no longer the passion 
of the Saracens ; and the increase of pay, the repetition 
of donatives, were insufficient to allure the posterity 
of those voluntary champions who had crowded to the 
standard of Abubeker and Omar for the hopes of the 

spoil of paradise Their mutual designs or 

declarations of war evaporated without effect; but 
instead of opening a door to the conquest of Europe, 
Spain was dissevered from the trunk of the monarchy, 
engaged in perpetual hostility with the East, and 
inclined to peace and friendship with the Christian 
sovereigns of Constantinople and France. 

119. 12. Twenty-five years after the death of 
The Turks. Basil [the Greek emperor], his successors 
Rev. ix. 13-20. were suddenly assaulted by an unknown race 
of barbarians, who united the Scythian valor with the 
fanaticism of new proselytes, and the art and riches of 
a powerful monarchy, (a) The myriads of Turkish horse 

overspread a frontier of six hundred miles, 
hodmen. from Taurus to Arzeroum, and the blood of 

one hundred and thirty thousand Christians 
was a grateful sacrifice to the Arabian prophet. Yet 
the arms of Togrul did not make any deep or lasting 
impression on the Greek empire. The torrent rolled 
away from the open country ; the sultan retired without 
glory or success from the siege of an Armenian city ; 
the obscure hostilities were continued or suspended with 
a vicissitude of events ; and the bravery of the Mace- 
donian legions renewed the fame of the conqueror of 
Asia. The name of Alp Arslan, the valiant lion, is ex- 
Heads onions, pressive of the popular idea of the perfection 
Rev. ix. 17. f man . anc j ^ e successor of Togrul dis- 
played the fierceness and generosity of the royal animal. 

He passed the Euphrates at the head of the 
Euphrates. Turkish cavalry, and entered Cesarea, the 

metropolis of Cappadocia, to which he had 



102.] IN THE REVELATION OF JOHN. 377 

been attracted by the fame and wealth of the temple of 

St. Basil The more rustic, perhaps the wisest, 

portion of the Turkmans, continued to dwell in the 
tents of their ancestors ; and from the Oxus to the 
Euphrates, these military colonies were protected and 

propagated by their native princes As the 

supreme head of his family and nation, the great sultan 
of Persia commanded the obedience and tribute of his 
royal brethren : the thrones of Kerman and Nice, of 
Aleppo and Damascus ; the Atabeks and emirs of Syria 
and Mesopotamia, erected their standards under the 
shadow of his sceptre, and the hordes of Turkmans 
overspread the plains of Western Asia. After the 
death of Malek, the bands of union and subordination 
were gradually relaxed and dissolved ; the indulgence 
of the house of Seljuk invested their slaves with the 
inheritance of kingdoms, and in the Oriental style, a 
crowd of princes arose from the dust of their feet. 

Among the implements of destruction, he Firsts of gun- 
[the Turkish sultan] studied with peculiar ?, e wd Eev. L at " 
care the recent and tremendous discovery of 17, 18- 
the Latins ; and his artillery surpassed whatever had 
yet appeared in the world. [At the siege of Constanti- 
nople,] The incessant volleys of lances and arrows 
were accompanied with the smoke, the sound, and the 

fire of their musketry and cannon The long 

order of the Turkish artillery was pointed against the 
walls ; fourteen batteries thundered at once on the most 
accessible places ; and of one of these it was ambigu- 
ously expressed that it was mounted with one hundred 
and thirty guns, and that it discharged one hundred and 

thirty bullets From the lines, the galleys, and 

the bridge, the Ottoman artillery thundered on all sides ; 
and the camp and city, the Greeks and the Turks, were 
involved in a cloud of smoke which could only be dis- 
pelled by the final deliverance or destruction of the 
Roman empire. 

120. 13. It was after the Nicene Synod, and un- 



378 FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. [120. 

The rope re- der the reign of the pious Irene, that the 
tern eS EmpiJI es " popes consummated the separation of Rome 
eov. xiii. 12. anc j j^aly [from the Eastern empire] by the 
translation of the empire to the less orthodox Charle- 
magne. They were compelled to choose between the 
rival nations ; religion was not the sole motive of their 
choice ; and while they dissembled the failings of their 
friends, they beheld with reluctance and suspicion the 
Catholic virtues of their foes. The difference of lan- 
guage and manners had perpetuated the enmity of the 
two capitals [Rome and Constantinople] ; and they were 
alienated from each other by the hostile opposition of 
seventy years. In that schism, the Romans had tasted 
of freedom and the popes of sovereignty ; their submis- 
sion would have exposed them to the revenge of a jealous 
tyrant, and the revolution of Italy had betrayed the 
impotence as well as the tyranny of the Byzantine 

court [Charlemagne was selected]. ..." The 

title of patrician was below the merit and greatness of 
Charlemagne ; and it was only by reviving the Western 
empire that they could pay their obligations, or secure 
their establishment. By this decisive measure they 
would finally eradicate the claims of the Greeks ; from 
the debasement of a provincial town the majesty of 
Rome would be restored ; the Latin Christians would 
be united under a supreme head in their ancient metro- 
polis ; and the conquerors of the West w r ould receive 
their crown from the successors of St. Peter. The 
Roman church would acquire a zealous and respectable 
advocate ; and, under the shadow of the Carlovingian 
power, the bishop might exercise, with honor and safety, 

the government of the city If we retrace the 

outlines of the geographical picture, it will be seen that 
the empire of the Franks extended, between the east 
and the west, from the Ebro to the Elbe, or Vistula ; 
between the north and the south, from the duchy of 
Beneventum to the river Eyder, the perpetual boundary 
of Germany and Denmark. Two-thirds of the Western 
empire were subject to Charlemagne, and the deficiency 
was amply supplied by his command of the inaccessible 



120.] IN THE REVELATION OF JOHN. 379 

or invincible nations of Germany." ... On the festival 
of Christmas, the last year of the eighth century, 
Charlemagne appeared in the church of St. Peter ; and, 
to gratify the vanity of Rome, he exchanged the simple 
dress of his country for the habit of a patrician. After 
the celebration of the holy mysteries, Leo suddenly 
placed a precious crown on his head, and the dome 
resounded with the acclamations of the people, "Long 
life and victory to Charles, the most pious Augustus, 
crowned by God the great and pacific emperor of the 
Romans!" The head and body of Charlemagne were 
consecrated by the royal unction ; his coronation oath 
represents a promise to maintain the faith and privileges 
of the church; and the first fruits are paid in rich 
offerings to the shrine of the apostle. In his familiar 
conversation the emperor protested his ignorance of the 
intentions of Leo, which he would have disappointed by 
his absence on that memorable day. But the prepara- 
tions of the ceremony must have disclosed the secret ; 
and the journey of Charlemagne reveals his knowledge 
and expectation : he had acknowledged that the imperial 
title was the object of his ambition, and a Roman senate 
had pronounced that it was the only adequate reward 

of his merit and services From that memorable 

era [the conquest of Italy by Otho], two maxims of 
public jurisprudence were introduced by force, and 
ratified by time : — I. That the prince who was elected 
by the German Diet, acquired from that instant the 
subject kingdoms of Italy and Rome. II. But that he 
might not legally assume the titles of Emperor and 
Augustus, till he had received the crown from the hands 
of the Roman pontiff. 



CHAPTER III. 
121. PRETENDED MIRACLES. 

The ancient heathen opposers of Christianity ad- 
mitted the miracles of Jesus, but attributed them to 
magic, and labored to adduce examples of like miracles 
wrought by others, who were supposed to ppssess magic 
power. So Hierocles compared the works of Jesus 
with those of Apollonius Tyanaeus, who, it was alleged, 
cured demoniacs, stopped a plague at Ephesus ; raised 
a dead female to life in Rome, understood the language 
of beasts and birds, and knew all human languages 
without having learned them. No infidel of modern 
times will maintain that Apollonius really wrought 
miracles ; and the only question with which we are now 
concerned is, whether the testimony on which these 
alleged miracles were accredited is equal to that on 
which the miracles of Jesus were believed. 

Hierocles accredited the miracles of Apollonius on 
the sole testimony of Philostratus, who did not claim to 
have had any personal knowledge of them, but who, a 
hundred years after the time of the magician, wrote an 
account of him to please Julia and Caracalla, the former 
of whom supplied, in part, the documents from which 
the account was prepared. How unlike is this to the 
testimony of those who were eye-witnesses of Christ's 
miracles, and who recorded what they had seen, not to 
please the rulers and great ones of the earth, but in the 
face of their frowns, and threats, and persecuting rage ! 

Apollonius was a Pythagorean philosopher, who 
lived in the time of Vespasian. No writer of his age, 
either pagan or Christian, has noticed the miracles 
attributed to him by Philostratus ; and yet if such mira- 
cles had been wrought at Rome and Ephesus, they must 
have attracted public attention. Moreover, Celsus and 
Porphyry, who wrote against Christianity before Hiero- 

(380) 



122.] PRETENDED MIRACLES. 381 

cleSj have failed to notice the miracles of Apollonius, 
though an argument from them, if they had believed 
their truth, would have admirably suited their purpose. 
Even Philostratus himself, in speaking of the chief 
miracle, the raising of the young woman to life, ex- 
presses doubt whether she were really dead. And 
Hume, in enumerating the pretended miracles with 
which he sought to disparage the history of Christ's 
miracles, has not included those attributed to Apollo- 
nius. 

From Paley's Evidences. 

They with whom we argue have undoubtedly a right 
to select their own examples. The instances with which 
Mr. Hume has chosen to confront the miracles of the 
New Testament, and which, therefore, we are entitled 
to regard as the strongest which the history of the world 
could supply to the inquiries of a very acute and learned 
adversary, are the three following : — 

I. The cure of a blind and of a lame man of Alexan- 
dria, by the Emperor Vespasian, as related by Tacitus. 

II. The restoration of the limbs of an attendant in a 
Spanish church, as told by Cardinal de Retz ; and 

III. The cures said to be performed at the tomb of 
Abbe* Paris, in the early part of the present century. 

122. I. The narrative of Tacitus is delivered in 
these terms : " One of the common people of Alex- 
andria, known to be diseased in his eyes, by the admo- 
nition of the god Serapis, whom that superstitious nation 
worship above all other gods, prostrated himself before 
the emperor, earnestly imploring from him a remedy for 
his blindness, and entreating that he would deign to 
anoint with his spittle his cheeks and the balls of his 
eyes. Another, diseased in his hand, requested, by the 
admonition of the same god, that he might be touched 
by the foot of the emperor. Vespasian at first derided 
and despised their application ; afterwards, when they 
continued to urge their petitions, he sometimes appeared 
to dread the imputation of vanity ; at other times, by 
the earnest supplication of the patients, and the persua- 



382 PRETENDED MIRACLES. [122. 

sion of his flatterers, to be induced to hope for success. 
At length he commanded an inquiry to be made by the 
physicians whether such a blindness and debility were 
vincible by human aid ? The report of the physicians 
contained various points : that in the one, the power of 
vision was not destroyed, but would return if the obsta- 
cles were removed ; that in the other, the diseased joints 
might be restored if a healing power were applied ; that 
it was perhaps agreeable to the gods to do this ; that 
the emperor was elected by divine assistance; lastly, 
that the credit of the success would be the emperor's, 
the ridicule of the disappointment would fall upon the 
patients. Vespasian, believing that everything was in 
the power of his fortune, and that nothing was any 
longer incredible, whilst the multitude which stood by 
eagerly expected the event with a countenance express- 
ive of joy, executed what he was desired to do. Imme- 
diately the hand was restored to its use, and light 
returned to the blind man. They who were present 
relate both these cures, even at this time, when there is 
nothing to be gained by lying." 

Now, though Tacitus wrote this account twenty-seven 
years after this miracle is said to have been performed, 
and wrote at Rome of what passed at Alexandria, and 
wrote also from report : and although it does not appear 
that he had examined the story, or that he believed it 
(but rather the contrary), yet I think his testimony suf- 
ficient to prove that such a transaction took place, by 
which I mean, that the two men in question did apply 
to Vespasian : that Vespasian did touch the diseased in 
the manner related ; and that a cure was reported to 
have followed the operation. But the affair labors 
under a strong and just suspicion that the whole of it 
was a concerted imposture, brought about by collusion 
between the patients, the physicians, and the emperor. 
This solution is probable, because there was everything to 
suggest, and everything to facilitate such a scheme. 
The miracle was calculated to confer honor upon the 
emperor and upon the god Serapis. It was achieved in 
the midst of the emperor's flatterers and followers ; in 



122.] PRETENDED MIRACLES. 383 

a city and amongst a populace beforehand devoted to 
his interest and to the worship of the god ; where it 
would have been treason and blasphemy together to 
have contradicted the fame of the cure, or even to have 
questioned it. And, what is very observable in the 
account is, that the report of the physicians is just such 
a report as would have been made of a case in which no 
external marks of the disease existed, and which, con- 
sequently, was capable of being easily counterfeited, 
namely, that in the first of the patients the organs of 
vision were not destroyed, that the weakness of the 
second was in his joints. The strongest circumstance 
in Tacitus' narration is, that the first patient was " notus 
tabe oculorum," remarked or notorious for the disease 
in his eyes. But this was a circumstance which might 
have found its way into the story in its progress from a 
distant country, and during an interval of thirty years ; 
or it might be true that the malady of the eyes was 
notorious, yet that the nature and degree of the disease 
had never been ascertained ; a case by no means uncom- 
mon. The emperor's reserve was easily affected ; or it 
is possible he might not be in the secret. There does 
not seem to be much weight in the observation of Taci- 
tus, that they who were present continued even then to 
relate the story when there was nothing to be gained by 
the lie. It only proves that those who had told the 
story for many years persisted in it. The state of mind 
of the witnesses and spectators at the time is the point 
to be attended to. Still less is there of pertinency in 
Mr. Hume's eulogium on the cautious and penetrating 
genius of the historian ; for it does not appear that the 
historian believed it. The terms in which he speaks of 
Serapis, the deity to whose interposition the miracle was 
attributed, scarcely suffer us to suppose that Tacitus 
thought the miracle to be real : " by the admonition of 
the god Serapis, whom that superstitious nation (dedita 
superstitionibus gens) worship above all other gods." 
To have brought this supposed miracle within the limits 
of comparison with the miracles of Christ, it ought to 
have appeared that a person of a low and private sta- 
33 2 b 



884 PRETENDED MIRACLES. [123. 

tion, in the midst of enemies, with the whole power of 
the country opposing him, with every one around him 
prejudiced or interested against his claims and character, 
pretended to perform these cures, and required the 
spectators, upon the strength of what they saw, to give 
up their firmest hopes and opinions, and follow him 
through a life of trial and danger ; that many were so 
moved as to obey his call, at the expense both of every 
notion in which they had been brought up, and of their 
ease, safety, and reputation ; and that by these begin- 
nings a change was produced in the world the effects of 
which remain to this day; a case both in its circum- 
stances and consequences, very unlike anything we find 
in Tacitus's relation. 

123. II. The story taken from the memoirs of Car- 
dinal de Retz, which is the second example alleged by 
Mr. Hume, is this : " In the church of Saragossa, in 
Spain, the canons showed me a man whose business it 
was to light the lamps ; telling me that he had been 
several years at the gate with one leg only. I saw him 
with two." 

It is stated by Mr. Hume, that the cardinal who 
relates this story did not believe it: and it nowhere 
appears that he either examined the limb or asked the 
patient, or, indeed, any one, a single question about the 
matter. An artificial leg, wrought with art, would be 
sufficient, in a place where no such contrivance had ever 
before been heard of, to give origin and currency to the 
report. The ecclesiastics of the place would, it is pro- 
bable, favor the story, inasmuch as it advanced the 
honor of their image and church. And if they patro- 
nized it, no other person at Saragossa, in the middle of 
the last century, would care to dispute it. The story, 
likewise, coincided not less with the wishes and precon- 
ceptions of the people than with the interests of their 
ecclesiastical rulers ; so that there was prejudice backed 
by authority, and both operating upon extreme igno- 
rance, to account for the success of the imposture. If, 
as I have suggested, the contrivance of an artificial 
limb was then new, it would not occur to the cardinal 



124.] PRETENDED MIRACLES. 385 

himself to suspect it ; especially under the carelessness 
of mind with which he heard the tale, and the little 
inclination he felt to scrutinize or expose its fallacy. 

124. III. The miracles related to have heen 
wrought at the tomb of Abbe Paris, admit in general 
of this solution. The patients who frequented the tomb 
were so affected by their devotion, their expectation, the 
place, the solemnity, and, above all, by the sympathy 
of the surrounding multitude, that many of them were 
thrown into violent convulsions, which convulsions, in 
certain instances, produced a removal of disorders 
depending upon obstruction. We shall, at this day, 
have the less difficulty in admitting the above account, 
because it is the very same as has lately been experi- 
enced in the operations of animal magnetism ; and the 
report of the French physicians upon that mysterious 
remedy is very applicable to the present consideration, 
namely, that the pretenders to the art, by working upon 
the imagination of their patients, were frequently able 
to produce convulsions ; that convulsions so produced, 
are among the most powerful, but, at the same time, 
most uncertain and unmanageable applications to the 
human frame which can be employed. 

Circumstances which indicate this explication in the 
case of the Parisian miracles, are the following : — 

1. They were tentative. Out of many thousand sick, 
infirm, and diseased persons who resorted to the tomb, 
the professed history of the miracles contains only nine 
cures. 

2. The convulsions at the tomb are admitted. 

3. The diseases were, for the most part, of that sort 
which depends upon inaction and obstruction, as dropsies, 
palsies, and some tumors. 

4. The cures were gradual ; some patients attending 
many days, some several weeks, and some several 
months. 

5. The cures were many of them incomplete. 

6. Others were temporary. 

So that all the wonder we are called upon to account 
for is, that out of an almost innumerable multitude 



386 PRETENDED MIRACLES. [124. 

which resorted to the tomb for the cure of their com- 
plaints, and many of whom were agitated by strong 
convulsions, a very small proportion experienced a bene- 
ficial change in their constitution, especially in the action 
of the nerves and glands. 

Some of the cases alleged do not require that we 
should have recourse to this solution. The first case in 
the catalogue is scarcely distinguishable from the pro- 
gress of a natural recovery. It was that of a young 
man who labored under an inflammation of one eye, and 
had lost the sight of the other. The inflamed eye was 
relieved, but the blindness of the other remained. The 
inflammation had before been abated by medicine ; and 
the young man, at the time of his attendance at the 
tomb, was using a lotion of laudanum. And, what is 
a still more material part of the case, the inflammation, 
after some interval, returned. Another case was that 
of a young man who had lost his sight by the puncture 
of an awl, and the discharge of the aqueous humor 
through the wound. The sight, which had been gradu- 
ally returning, was much improved during his visit to 
the tomb, that is, probably, in the same degree in which 
its discharged humor was replaced by fresh secretions. 
And it is observable that these two are the only cases 
which, from their nature, should seem unlikely to be 
affected by convulsions. 

In one material respect I allow that the Parisian 
miracles were different from those related by Tacitus, 
and from the Spanish miracle of the Cardinal de Retz. 
They had not, like them, all the power and all the pre- 
judice of the country on their side to begin with. They 
were alleged by one party against another, by the 
Jansenists against the Jesuits. These were^ of course, 
opposed and examined by their adversaries. The con- 
sequence of which examination was, that many false- 
hoods were detected, that Avith something really extra- 
ordinary much fraud appeared to be mixed. And if 
some of the cases upon which designed misrepresentation 
could not be charged, were not at the time satisfactorily 
accounted for, it was because the ^efficacy of strong 



124.] PRETENDED MIRACLES. 387 

spasmodic affections was not then sufficiently known. 
Finally, the cause of Jansenism did not rise by the 
miracles, but sunk, although the miracles had the ante- 
rior persuasion of all the numerous adherents of that 
cause to set out with. 

These, let us remember, are the strongest examples 
which the history of ages supplies. In none of them was 
the miracle unequivocal ; by none of them were estab- 
lished prejudices and persuasions overthrown ; of none 
of them did the credit make its way in opposition to 
authority and power ; by none of them were many 
induced to commit themselves, and that in contradiction 
to prior opinions, to a life of mortification, danger, and 
sufferings ; none were called upon to attest them at the 
expense of their fortunes and safety. 



CHAPTER IV. 
MAHOMETANISM. 

Extracts from the Koran. 

125. Chapter II. If ye be in doubt concerning 
that revelation which we have sent down unto our ser- 
vant, produce (a) a chapter like unto it, and call upon 

your witnesses besides God, if ye say truth 

(b) We formerly delivered the book of the law unto 
Moses, and caused apostles to succeed him, and gave 
evident miracles to Jesus, the son of Mary, and 

strengthened him with the Holy Spirit (c) They 

to whom we have given the book of the Koran, and who 
read it with the true reading, they believe therein ; and 

whoever believeth not therein, they shall perish 

Moreover, they who conceal any part of the scripture 
which God hath sent down into them, and sell it for a 
small price, they shall swallow unto their bellies nothing 
but fire ; God shall not speak to them on the day of 
resurrection, neither shall he purify them, and they shall 

suffer a grievous punishment (d) Fight for the 

religion of God against those who fight against you ; 
but transgress not by attacking them first, for God 
loveth not the transgressors. And kill them wherever 
ye find them, and turn them out of that whereof they 
have dispossessed you: for temptation to idolatry is 
more grievous than slaughter ; yet fight not against 
them in the holy temple, until they attack you therein ; 
but if they attack you, slay them there. This shall be 
the reward of infidels. But if they desist, God is gra- 
cious and merciful. Fight, therefore, against them, 
until there be no temptation to idolatry, and the religion 
be God's ; but if they desist, then let there be no 

hostility, except against the ungodly War is 

(388) 



126.] MAHOMETANISM. 389 

enjoined you against the infidels (e) Ye may 

divorce your wives twice, and then either retain them 

with humanity, or dismiss them with kindness 

But if the husband divorce her a third time, she shall 
not be lawful for him again until she marry another 

husband (f) If ye make your alms to appear, 

it is well ; but if ye conceal them, and give them unto 
the poor, this will be better for you, and will atone for 
your sins : and God is well informed of that which 
ye do. 

126. Chapter III. There is no God but God, the 
living, the self-subsisting : he hath sent down unto thee 
the book of the Koran with truth, confirming that which 
was revealed before it ; for he had (a) formerly sent 
down the law, and the gospel a direction unto men ; and 
he has also sent down the distinction between good and 
evil. . . . (b) Ye have already had a miracle shown you 
in two armies, which attacked each other ; one army 
fought for God's true religion, but the other were in- 
fidels ; they saw the faithful twice as many as them- 
selves in their eyesight ; for God strengthened with his 
help whom he pleaseth. 1 .... (c) If ye be slain or die 
in defence of the religion of God ; verily pardon from 
God, and mercy, is better than what they heap together 
of worldly riches. And if ye die or be slain, verily unto 
God shall ye be gathered. 



1 The sign or miracle here meant was the victory gained by 
Mahomet, in the second year of the Hegira, over the idola- 
trous Meccans, headed by Abu Sofian, in the valley of Bedr, 
which is situate near the sea, between Mecca and Medina. 
Mahomet's forces consisted of no more than three hundred 
and nineteen men ; but the enemy's army of near a thousand ; 
notwithstanding which odds he put them to flight, having killed 
seventy of the principal Koreish, and taken as many prisoners, 
with the loss of only fourteen of his own men. This was the 
first victory obtained by the prophet, and though it may seem 
no very considerable action, yet it was of great advantage to 
him, and the foundation of all his future power and success. 
For which reason it is famous in the Arabian history, and more 
than once vaunted in the Koran as an effect of the divine 
assistance. 



390 MAHOMET ANISM. [129. 

127. Chapter IV. If ye fear that ye shall not act 
with equity towards orphans of the female sex, (a) take 
in marriage of such other women as please you, two, or 
three, or four, and not more. But if ye fear that ye 
cannot act equitably towards so many, marry one only, 

(b) or the slaves which ye shall have acquired 

Ye are also forbidden to take to wife free women who 
are (c) married, except those women whom your right 

hands shall possess as slaves (d) If they turn 

back from the faith, take them, and kill them wherever 

ye find them (e) And for that they [the Jews] 

have not believed in Jesus, and have spoken against 
Mary a grievous calumny ; and have said, Verily we 
have slain Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the apostle of 
God ; yet they slew him not, neither crucified him, but 
he was represented by one in his likeness ; and verily 
they who disagreed concerning him were in a doubt as 
to this matter, and had no sure knowledge thereof, but 
followed only an uncertain opinion. They did not really 
kill him; but God took him up unto himself. .... 
(f ) Believe therefore in God, and his apostles, and say 
not, There are three Gods ; forbear this ; it will be 
better for you. God is but one God. Far be it from 
him that he should have a son. 

128. Chapter V. Our apostles formerly came unto 

them, with evident (a) miracles (b) We have 

also sent down unto thee the book of the Koran with 
truth, confirming that scripture which was revealed be- 
fore it ; and preserving the same safe from corruption. 
. . . . (c) They are surely infidels, who say, Verily God 
is Christ the son of Mary. . . . They are certainly in- 
fidels, who say, God is the third of three, for there is 

no God, besides one God Christ the son of 

Mary is no more than an apostle (d) The duty 

of our apostle is to preach only. 

129. Chapter VI. They have sworn by God, by the 
most solemn oath, that if a sign came unto them, they 
would certainly believe therein : Say, verily, signs are 
in the power of God alone. 



135.] MAHOMETAN ISM. 391 

130. Chapter VII. I will write down good unto 
those .... who shall follow rny illiterate prophet. 

131. Chapter IX. Fight against those who believe 
not in God, . . . and profess not the true religion .... 
until they pay tribute by right of subjection, and they 

be reduced low Verily God hath purchased of 

the true believers their souls, and their substance pro- 
mising them the enjoyment of paradise on condition that 
they fight for the cause of God ; whether they slay or 
be slain, (a) the promise for the same is assuredly due 
by the law, and the gospel, and the Koran. 

132. Chapter X. This Koran could not have been 
composed by any except God ; but it is a confirmation 
of that which was revealed before it, and an explanation 
of the scripture; there is no doubt thereof; sent doivn 
from the Lord of all creatures. Will they say, Moham- 
med hath forged it ? Answer, Bring therefore a chapter 
like unto it ; and call whom you may to your assistance, 
besides God, if ye speak truth. 

133. Chapter XI. Will they say, he hath forged the 
Koran ? Answer, Bring therefore ten chapters like unto 
it, forged by yourselves : and call on whomsoever ye 
may to assist you, except God, if ye speak truth. . . . 

134. Chapter XII. [After narrating the history of 
Joseph with many variations from the Bible account — ], 
This is a secret history which we reveal unto thee, 
Mohammed, although thou wast not present with the 
brethren of Joseph, when they concerted their design, 
and contrived a plot against him. 

135. Chapter XIII. The infidels say, Unless a sign 
be sent down unto him from his Lord, we will not be- 
lieve. Thou art commissioned to be a preacher only, 

and not a worker of miracles The infidels say, 

Unless a sign be sent down unto him from his Lord, we 
will not believe. Answer, Verily God will lead into 
error whom he pleaseth, and .will direct unto himself 
him who repenteth, and those who believe, and whose 
hearts rest securely in the meditation of God ; shall not 



392 M AXIOM ET AN ISM. [137. 

men's hearts rest securely in the meditation of God? . . . 

■ Though a Koran were revealed by which mountains 

should be removed, or the earth cleaved in sunder, or 

the dead be caused to speak, it would be in vain 

Moreover, whether we cause thee to see any part of that 
punishment wherewith we have threatened them, or (a) 
whether we cause thee to die before it be inflicted on 
them, verily unto thee belongeth preaching only, and 
unto us inquisition. 

136. Chapter XV. The Meccans say, thou to 
whom the admonition hath been sent down, thou art 
certainly possessed with a devil ; wouldst thou not have 
come unto us with an attendance of angels if thou hadst 
spoken truth ? Answer, We send not down the angels 
unless on a just occasion ; nor should they then be re- 
spited any longer. We have surely sent down the 
Koran ; and we will certainly preserve the same from 

corruption If we should open a gate of heaven 

above them, and they should ascend thereto all the day 
long, they should rather say, Our eyes are only dazzled ; 
or rather we are a people deluded by enchantments. 
.... (a) But if they turn back, verily thy duty is 

public preaching only We also know that they 

say, Verily, a certain man teacheth him to compose the 
Koran. The tongue of the person unto whom they 
incline is a foreign tongue ; but this, wherein the Koran 
is Written, is the perspicuous Arabic tongue. 

137. Chapter XVII. Praise be unto him who trans- 
ported his servant by night from the sacred temple of 
Mecca to the farther temple of Jerusalem. [From 
whence he was carried through the seven heavens to 
the presence of God, and brought back again to Mecca 
the same night. 1 ] .... (a) Nothing hindered us from 

1 It is a dispute among the Mahometan divines whether their 
prophet's night journey was really performed by him corpo- 
really, or whether it was only a dream or a vision. Some think 
the whole was no more than a vision ; and allege an express 
tradition of Moawiyah, one of Mahomet's successors, to that 
purpose. Others suppose he was carried bodily to Jerusalem, 
but no further ; and that he ascended thence to heaven in spirit 



140.] MAHOMETANISM. 393 

sending thee with miracles, except that the former 
nations have charged them with imposture. 

138. Chapter XIX. [After narrating the concep- 
tion and birth of Jesus, with many and great variations 
from the New Testament account, the Koran puts words 
in the mouth of the new-born infant.] Whereupon the 
child said, Verily, I am the servant of God ; he hath 
given me the book of the gospel, and hath appointed 
me a prophet. And he hath made me blessed whereso- 
ever I shall be ; and hath commanded me to observe 
prayer, and to give alms, so long as I shall live ; and he 
hath made me dutiful towards my mother, and hath not 
made me proud or unhappy. And peace be on me the 
day whereon I was born, and the day whereon I shall 
die, and the day whereon I shall be raised to life. This 
was Jesus, the son of Mary ; the Word of truth, con- 
cerning whom they doubt. 

139. Chapter XXI. But they say the Koran is 
a confused heap of dreams ; nay, he hath forged it ; 
nay, he is a poet ; let him come unto us therefore with 
some miracle, (a) in like manner as the former prophets 
were sent. None of the cities which we have destroyed 
believed the miracles which they saw performed before 
them ; will they therefore believe if they see a miracle ? 

(b) We have not granted unto any man before 

thee eternal permanency in this world ; if thou die, 

therefore will they be immortal (c) The Jews 

and Christians have made schisms in the affair of their 
religion among themselves. 

140. Chapter XXVII. And Solomon was David's 
heir ; and he said, men, we have been taught the 
speech of birds, and have had all things bestowed on us ; 
this is manifest excellence. And his armies were gath- 
ered together unto Solomon, consisting of genii and 



only. But the received opinion is, that it was no vision, but 
that he was actually transported in the body to his journey's 
end ; and if any impossibility be objected, they think it a sufficient 
answer to say. that it might easily be effected by an omnipotent 
airent. 



391 MAHOMETANISMj [143. 

men and birds, and they were led into distant lands, 
until they came unto the valley of ants. And an ant, 
seeing the hosts approaching, said, ants, enter ye 
into your habitation, lest Solomon and his army tread 
you under foot, and perceive it not. . . . And he viewed 
the birds and said, What is the reason that I see not the 
lapwing ? Is she absent ? Yerily I will chastise her 
with a severe chastisement, or I will put her to death, 
unless she bring me a just excuse. And she tarried not 
long before she presented herself unto Solomon, and 
said, I have viewed a country which thou hast not 
viewed ; and I come unto thee from Saba, with a certain 
piece of news. I found a woman to reign over them 7 
who is provided with everything requisite for a prince, 
and hath a magnificent throne. [Here follows the story 
of the queen of Sheba, with many variations.] 

141. Chapter XXVIII. Yet when the truth is come 
unto them before us, they say, unless he receive the 
same (a) power to work miracles as Moses received, we 
will not believe. Have they not likewise rejected the 
revelation which was heretofore given unto Moses ? . . . . 
Verily, (b) he who hath given thee the Koran for a rule 
of faith and practice, will certainly bring thee back 
home unto Mecca. 1 

142. Chapter XXIX. They say, unless a sign be 
sent down unto him from his Lord, we will not believe. 
Answer : Signs are in the power of God alone ; and I 
am no more than a public preacher. 

143. Chapter XXX. The Greeks have been over- 
come by the Persians in the nearest part of the land ; 
but after their defeat, they shall overcome the others in 
their turn, within a few years. Unto God belongeth 
the disposal of this matter, both for what is past, and 
for what is to come : and on that day shall the believers 

1 This verse, some say, was revealed to Mahomet when he 
arrived at Johfa, in his flight from Mecca to Medina, to comfort 
him, and still his complaints. But the chapter in which it is 
recorded is expressly said at the beginning of it to have been 
revealed at Mecca. 



144.] M All M ET ANISM. 395 

rejoice in the success granted by God ; for he granteth 
success unto whom he pleaseth, and he is the mighty, 
the merciful. 

144. Chapter XXXIII. The prophet is nigher unto 
the true believers than their own souls ; and his wives 
are their (a) mothers. 1 ... prophet, say unto thy 
wives, If ye seek this present life, and the pomp thereof, 
come, I will make a handsome provision for you, and I 
will dismiss (b) you with an honourable dismission ; but 
if ye seek God and his apostle, and the life to come, 
verily God hath prepared for such of you as work right- 
eousness a great reward. [This passage was revealed 
on Mahomet's wives asking for more sumptuous clothes, 
and an additional allowance for their expenses: and 
he had no sooner received it than he gave them their 
option either to continue with him, or to be divorced, 
beginning with Ayesha, who chose God and his apostle, 
and the rest followed her example ; upon which the 
prophet thanked them, and the following words were 
revealed; viz. It shall not be lawful for thee to take, 
other women to wife hereafter, nor to exchange any of 
thy wives for them, although their beauty please thee, 
except the slaves whom thy right hand shall possess. 
From hence some have concluded, that a wife who has 
her option given her, and chooses to stay with her hus- 
band, shall not be divorced ; though others are of a con- 
trary opinion.] .... (c) prophet, we have allowed 
thee thy wives unto whom thou hast given their dower, 
and also the slaves which thy right hand possesseth, of 
the booty which God hath granted thee; and the 
daughters of thy uncles, and the daughters of thy aunts, 
both on thy father's side, and on thy mother's side, who 
have fled with thee from Mecca, and any other believing 
woman, if she give herself unto the prophet ; in case 
the prophet desireth to take her to wife. This is a 
peculiar privilege granted unto thee, above the rest of 
the true believers. . . . We know what we have or- 

1 Commentators are of opinion that the common people •were 
here forbidden to marry any of the prophet's wives. 
34 



396 M A H M E T A N I S M. [146. 

darned them concerning their wives, and the slaves 
which their right hands possess : lest it should be deemed 
a crime in thee to make use of the privilege granted 
thee ; for God is gracious and merciful. Thou mayest 
(d) postpone the turn of such of thy wives as thou shalt 
please, in being called to thy bed ; and thou mayest take 
unto thee her whom thou shalt please, and her whom 
thou shalt desire of those whom thou shalt have before 
rejected, and it shall be no crime in thee, (e) And 
when ye ask of the prophet's wives what ye may have 
occasion for, ask it of them from behind a curtain. 
This will be more pure for your hearts and their hearts. 
Neither is it fit for you to give any uneasiness to the 
apostle of God, or to marry his wives after him for 
ever : for this would be a grievous thing in the sight of 
God. 

145. Chapter XXXVI. We have not taught Mo- 
hammed the art of poetry ; nor is it expedient for 
him to be a poet. This book is no other than an admo- 
nition from God, and a perspicuous Koran. 

146. Chapter XXXVII. But as for the sincere ser- 
vants of God, they shall have a certain provision in 
Paradise, namely, delicious fruits : and they shall be 
honoured ; they shall be placed in gardens of pleasure ; 
leaning on couches, opposite to one another ; a cup 
shall be carried round unto them, filled from a limpid 
fountain, for the delight of those who drink ; it shall 
not oppress the understanding, neither shall they be 
inebriated therewith. And near them shall lie the 
virgins of paradise, refraining their looks from behold- 
ing any besides their spouses, having large black eyes, 
and resembling the eggs of an ostrich covered with 
feathers from the dust (a) Our word hath form- 
erly been given unto our servants, the apostles ; that 
they shall certainly be assisted against the infidels, and 

that our armies should surely be the conquerors 

Turn aside from them, therefore, for a season, and see; 
hereafter shall they see thy success and their punish- 
ment. 



152.] MAHOMETANISM. 397 

147. Chapter XXXVIII. But any army of the con- 
federates shall even here be put to flight. 

148. Chapter XXXIX. Verily thou, Mohammed, 
shalt die, and* they also shall die, and ye shall debate 
the matter with one another before your Lord, at the 
day of resurrection. 

149. Chapter XL. We heretofore gave unto Moses a 
direction ; and we left as an inheritance unto the child- 
ren of Israel, the book of the (a) law (b) They 

who charge with falsehood the book of the Koran, and 
the other scriptures, and revealed doctrines which we 
have sent our former apostles to preach, shall hereafter 
know their folly, when the collars shall be on their 
necks, and the chains by which they shall be dragged 

into hell ; then shall they be burned in the fire 

(c) Whether we cause thee to see any part of the punish- 
ment with which we have threatened them, or whether 
we cause thee to die before thou see it ; before us thou 
shalt be assembled at the last day. 

150. Chapter XLII. They who have inherited 
the scriptures after them are certainly in a perplexing 
doubt concerning the same. Wherefore invite them to 

receive the sure faith and say, I believe in 

all the scriptures which God hath sent down ; and I am 
commanded to establish justice among you. 

151. Chapter XLIV. But the pious shall be lodged 
in a place of security, among gardens and fountains ; 
they shall be clothed in fine silk, and in satin ; and they 
shall sit facing one another. Thus shall it be : and we 
shall espouse them to fair damsels, having large black 
eyes. In that place shall they call for all kinds of 
fruits, in full security ; they shall not taste death 
therein, after the first death ; and God shall deliver 
from the pains of hell; through the gracious bounty of 
thy Lord. This will be great felicity. 

152. Chapter XL VI. Say, I am not singular among 
the apostles ; neither do I know what will be done with 
me or with you hereafter ; I follow no other than what 
is revealed unto me ; neither am I any more than a public 
warner. 



398 MAHOMETANISM. [156. 

153. Chapter XLVIL When ye encounter the un- 
believers, (a) strike off their heads, until ye have made 
a great slaughter among them ; and bind them in bonds ; 
and either give them a free dismission afterwards, or 
exact a ransom ; until the war shall have laid down its 

arms (b) The description of Paradise, wmich is 

promised unto the pious : therein are rivers of incor- 
ruptible water ; and rivers of milk, the taste whereof 
changeth not ; and rivers of wine, pleasant unto those 
who drink ; and rivers of clarified honey ; and therein 
shall they have plenty of all kinds of fruits ; and pardon 
from their Lord. 

154. Chapter XL VIII. Verily, we have granted 
thee a manifest victory : (a) that God may forgive thee 
thy preceding and thy subsequent sin. 1 . . . God pro- 
mised you (b) many spoils which ye should take ; but 
he gave you these by way of earnest. 

155. Chapter LIV. The hour of judgment approach- 
eth ; and the moon hath been split in sunder. 2 

156. Chapter LIX. The spoils of the inhabitants of 
the towns which God hath granted to his apostle are due 
unto God and to the apostle, and to him who is of kin 
to the apostle, and the orphans, and the poor, and the 
traveller ; that they may not be for ever divided in a 
circle among such of you as are rich. What the apostle 
shall give you, that accept ; and what he shall forbid 
you, that abstain from ; and fear God ; for God is severe 
in chastising. 

1 Some expound the words more particularly, and say the 
preceding or former fault was his lying with his handmaid 
Mary, contrary to his oath 5 and the latter his marrying of 
Zeinab, the wife of Zeid, his adopted son. 

2 The passage is expounded two different ways. Some imagine 
the words refer to a famous miracle supposed to have been per- 
formed by Mahomet 5 for it is said that on the infidels demand- 
ing a sign of him, the moon appeared cloven in two, one part 
vanishing, and the other remaining, and Ebn Masud affirmed 
that he saw Mount Hara interpose between the two sections. 
Others think the preter tense is here used in the prophetic 
style, for the future, and that the passage should be rendered, 
"the moon shall be split in sunder;" for this, they say, is to 
happen at the resurrection. 



CHAPTER V. 
MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. 

157. Heathen Morality. — Gregory. 

Nor did the legislators inculcate erroneous notions 
with regard to the gods alone. Their laws, established 
for the express purpose of furthering the public virtue 
and happiness, had often a highly unfavorable effect 
upon both. I shall here only specify a few of those of 
Lycurgus, because the united voice of antiquity speaks 
of him as rather a god than a man ; and Plutarch pro- 
duces him as " an undeniable proof that a perfectly wise 

man is not a mere notion and chimera." Plato, 

though a great admirer of Lycurgus, acknowledges, that 
his laws were rather fitted to make men valiant than 
just Many of his laws were contrary to hu- 
manity Lycurgus enacted that deformed infants 

should not be suffered to live, but be cast into a cavern 
to perish gradually ! Healthy boys, on the contrary, 
were to be treated charitably, and trained up to dexte- 
rous thieving, being whipped unmercifully if they were 
taken in the fact, not for stealing, but for being such 
bunglers as to expose themselves to detection. I will 
only add farther, under this head, that the Spartans had 
common baths, in which both men and women were 
compelled to bathe together ; and that it was ordered by 
Lycurgus that young maidens should appear naked in 
the public exercises, as well as the young men ; and 
that they should dance naked with them at the solemn 
festivals and sacrifices 

In regard to morals, they [the philosophers] were 
generally wrong in that part which relates to purity, 
and continence, and the government of the sensual pas- 
34* 2 c (399) 



400 MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. [157. 

sions. Many of them, as Socrates, Plato, Xenophon, 
iEschines, Cebes, &c, were chargeable with unnatural 
lusts and vices, which they reckoned among things of an 
indifferent nature. They generally allowed of fornica- 
tion, as having nothing in it sinful or contrary to reason. 
Many of them pleaded for suicide as lawful and proper 
in some cases ; and most of them thought lying lawful 
when it was profitable 

Socrates was the first among the Greeks who made 
morals the proper and only subject of his philosophy, 
and brought it into common life. . . . [He] was, as 
Tertullian remarks, condemned at Athens, amongst 
other things, for sodomy and the corrupting of youth ; 
and was addicted to incontinence and fornication. 

... I have already adverted to the encouragement 
this philosopher [Plato] gave to the habit of lying. He 
farther prescribes a community of wives in his common- 
wealth, and lays down laws for the express purpose of 
destroying all parental and filial affection; he gives 
great liberties to incontinency, affirming " that all things 
respecting women, marriage, and the propagation of the 
species should be entirely common among friends ;" 
allows, and in some cases prescribes, the exposing and 
destroying children, namely, the children of mothers 
older than forty-five, or of fathers older than fifty-five ; 
allows of drunkenness at the feast of Bacchus, though 
not at other times ; and prescribes the worship of the 
stars, which indeed are the divinities he principally 
recommends to the people. . . . 

. . . Cicero often commends and justifies suicide ; 
and warmly pleads for fornication, as having nothing 
blameable in it, and as. a thing universally allowed and 
practised. 

. . . Cato of Utica, who has been held up as " a 
perfect model of virtue," but who lent his wife to Iior- 
tensius, was an habitual drunkard, and taught and prac- 
tised self-murder. . . . Seneca pleads for suicide, justifies 
Cato's drunkenness, asserts that no man in his reason 
fears the gods, and contemns future punishments as vain 
terrors invented by the poets. 



148.] MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. 401 

158. Morality of Deists. — Fuller. 

Compare the conduct of the leading men among deists 
with that of the body of serious Christian divines. 
Amidst their declamations against priestly hypocrisy, 
are they honest men ? Where is their ingenuousness 
in continually confounding Christianity and Popery ? 
Have these workers of iniquity no knowledge ? " No," 
say some, " they do not understand the difference be- 
tween genuine and corrupted Christianity. They have 
never had opportunity of viewing the religion of Jesus 
in its native dress. It is popish superstition against 
which their efforts are directed. If they understood 
Christianity they would embrace it." Indeed! And 
was this the case with Shaftesbury, Bolingbroke, Hume, 
or Gibbon ? or is this the case with Paine ? No ; they 
have both seen and hated the light ; nor will they come 
to it, lest their deeds should be made manifest. 

It may be thought, however, that some excuse may 
be made for infidels residing in a popish country ; and 
this I shall not dispute as it respects the ignorant popu- 
lace, who may be carried away by their leaders ; but, 
as it respects the leaders themselves, it is otherwise. 
The National Assembly of France, when they wished 
to counteract the priests, and to reject the adoption of 
the Roman Catholic faith as the established religion, 
could clearly distinguish between genuine and corrupted 
Christianity. Deists can distinguish between Christi- 
anity and its abuses, when an end is to be answered by 
it ; and, when an end is to be answered by it, they can, 
with equal facility, confound them. 

Herbert, Hobbes, Shaftesbury, Woolston, Tindal, 
Chubb, and Bolingbroke, are all guilty of the vile hy- 
pocrisy of professing to love and reverence Christianity, 
while they are employed in no other design than to de- 
stroy it.. Such faithless professions, such gross viola- 
tions of truth, in Christians, would have been proclaimed 
to the universe, by these very writers, as infamous de- 
sertions of principle and decency. Is it less infamous 
in themselves ? All hypocrisy is detestable ; but I 
know of none so detestable as that which is coolly writ- 



402 MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. [158. 

ten, with full premeditation, by a man of talents, as- 
suming the character of a moral and religious instructor. 
Truth is a virtue perfectly defined, mathematically clear, 
and completely understood by all men of common sense. 
There can be no baitings between uttering truth and 
falsehood ; no doubt, no mistakes, as between piety 
and enthusiasm, frugality and parsimony, generosity 
and profusion. Transgression, therefore, is always a 
known, definite, deliberate villany. In the sudden mo- 
ment of strong temptation, in the hour of unguarded 
attack, in the flutter and trepidation of unexpected 
alarm, the best man may, perhaps, be surprised into any 
sin ; but he who can coolly, of steady design, and with 
no unusual impulse, utter falsehood and vend hypocrisy, 
is not far from finished depravity. 

The morals of Rochester and Wharton need no com- 
ment. Woolston was a gross blasphemer ; Blount 
solicited his sister-in-law to marry him, and being 
refused shot himself. Tindal was originally a Pro- 
testant, then turned Papist, then Protestant again, 
merely to suit the times ; and was at the same time 
infamous for vice in general, and the total want of 
principle. He is said to have died with this prayer in 
his mouth : " If there be a God, I desire that he may 
have mercy on me." Hobbes wrote his Leviathan to 
serve the cause of Charles I., but finding him fail of 
success, he turned it to the defence of Cromwell, and 
made a merit of this fact to the usurper, as Hobbes him- 
self unblushingly declared to Lord Clarendon. Morgan 
had no regard to truth, as is evident from his numerous 
falsifications of Scripture, as well as from the vile 
hypocrisy of professing himself a Christian in those 
very writings in which he labors to destroy Christianity. 
Voltaire, in a letter now remaining, requested his 
friend, D'Alembert, to tell for him a direct and palpa- 
ble lie, by denying that he was the author of the 
Philosophical Dictionary. D'Alembert, in his answer, 
informed him that he had told the lie. Voltaire has, 
indeed, expressed his own moral character perfectly in 
the following words : " Monsieur Abbe, I must be read ; 



158.] MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. 403 

no matter whether I am believed or not." He also 
solemnly professes to believe the Catholic religion, 
although at the same time he doubted the existence of a 
God. Hume died as a fool dieth. The day before his 
death he spent in a pitiful and affected unconcern about 
this tremendous subject, playing at whist, reading 
Lucian's Dialogues, and making silly attempts at wit, 
concerning his interview with Charon, the heathen 
ferryman of Hades. 

Collins, though he had no belief in Christianity, yet 
qualified himself for civil office by partaking of the 
Lord's supper. Shaftesbury did the same ; and the 
same is done by hundreds of infidels to this day. Yet 
these are the men that are continually declaiming 
against the hypocrisy of priests ! Godwin is not only 
a lewd character, by his own confession ; but the un- 
blushing advocate of lewdness. And as to Paine, he is 
well known to have been a profane swearer, and a 
drunkard. We have evidence upon oath, that " reli- 
gion was his favorite topic when intoxicated ;" and, 
from the scurrility of the performance, it is not impro- 
bable that he was frequently in this situation while 
writing his "Age of Reason." 

I shall conclude this catalogue of worthies with a 
brief abstract of the " Confessions of J. J. Rousseau." 
After a good education in the Protestant religion, he 
was put apprentice. Finding his situation disagreeable 
to him, he felt a strong propensity to vice — inclining 
him to covet, dissemble, lie, and at length, to steal — a 
propensity of which he was never able afterwards to 
direst himself. " I have been a rogue," says he, " and 
am so still sometimes, for trifles which I had rather take 
than ask for." 

He abjured the Protestant religion, and entered the 
hospital of the Catechumens at Turin, to be instructed 
in that of the Catholics ; "For which in return," says 
he, " I was to receive subsistence. From this interested 
conversion," he adds, "nothing remained but the 
remembrance of my having been both a dupe and an 
apostate." 



404 MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. [158. 

After this he resided with a Madame de Warrens, 
with whom he " lived in the greatest possible fami- 
liarity." This lady often suggested that there would 
be no justice in the Supreme Being, should he be strictly 
just to us : because, not having bestowed what was 
necessary to make us essentially good, it would be 
requiring more than he had given. She was, neverthe- 
less, a very good Catholic, or pretended at least to be 
one, and certainly desired to be such. If there had 
been no Christian morality established, Rousseau sup- 
poses she would have lived as though regulated by its 
principles. All her morality, however, was subordinate 
to the principles of M. Tavel (who first seduced her 
from conjugal fidelity, by urging, in effect, that expo- 
sure was the only crime) : or rather, she saw nothing in 
religion that contradicted them. Rousseau was far 
enough from being of this opinion : yet he confessed he 
dared not combat the arguments of the lady ; nor is it 
supposable he could, as he appears to have been acting 
on the same principles at the time. " Finding in her," 
he adds, " all those ideas I had occasion for, to secure 
me from the fears of death and its future consequences, 
I drew confidence and security from this source." 

The writings of Port Royal, and those of the Oratory, 
made him half a Jansenist ; and, notwithstanding all 
his confidence, their harsh theory sometimes alarmed 
him. A dread of hell, which, till then, he had never 
much apprehended, by little and little disturbed his 
security, and, had not Madame de Warrens tranquil- 
lized his soul, would at length have been too much for 
him. His confessor, also a Jesuit, contributed all in 
his power to keep up his hopes. 

After this he became familiar with another female, 
Theresa. He began by declaring to her that he would 
never either abandon or marry her. Finding her preg- 
nant with her first child, and hearing it observed, in an 
eating-house, that he who had best filled the Foundling 
Hospital was always the most applauded, " I said to 
myself," he tells us, " since it is the custom of the 
country, they who live here may adopt it. I cheerfully 



158.] MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. 405 

determined upon it without the least scruple : and the 
only one I had to overcome was that of Theresa ; whom, 
with the greatest imaginable difficulty, I persuaded to 
comply." The year following a similar inconvenience 
was remedied by the same expedient : no more reflection 
on his part; nor approbation on that of the mother. 
She obeyed with trembling. "My fault," says he, 
" was great ; but it was an error." 

He resolved on settling at Geneva ; and, on going 
thither, and being mortified at his exclusion from the 
rights of a citizen fey the profession of a religion differ- 
ent from his forefathers, he determined openly to return 
to the latter. " I thought," says he, " the gospel being 
the same for every Christian, and the only difference in 
religious opinions the result of the explanations given 
by men to that which they did not understand, it was 
the exclusive right of the sovereign power in every 
country to fix the mode of worship, and these unintelli- 
gible opinions ; and that, consequently, it was the duty 
of a citizen to admit the one, and conform to the other, 
in the manner prescribed by the law." Accordingly at 
Geneva he renounced popery. 

After passing twenty years with Theresa, he made 
her his wife. He appears to have intrigued with a 

Madame de "W . Of his desires after that lady he 

says, " Guilty without remorse, I soon became so with- 
out measure." 

Such, according to his own account, was the life of 
uprightness and honor which was to expiate for a theft 
which he had committed when a young man, and laid to 
a female servant, by which she lost her place and 
character. Such was Rousseau, the man whom the 
rulers of the French nation have delighted to honor ; 
and who, for writing this account, had the vanity and 
presumption to expect the applause of his Creator. 
k ' "Whenever the last trumpet shall sound," says he, "I 
will present myself before the Sovereign Judge, with 
this book in my hand, and loudly proclaim, Thus have I 
acted : these were my thoughts ; such was I, Power 
eternal ! Assemble round thy throne the innumerable 



406 MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. [159. 

throng of my fellow-mortals. Let them listen to my 
confession ; let them blush at my depravity ; let them 
tremble at my sufferings ; let each in his turn expose, 
with equal sincerity, the failings, the wanderings of his 
heart ; and, if he dare, aver — I was better than that 
man." 

v 159. Traditions of the Deluge. — Kitto. 

As Noah was the progenitor of all the nations of the 
earth, and as the ark was the second cradle of the 
human race, we might expect to find in all nations tra- 
ditions and reports more or less distinct respecting him, 
the ark in which he was saved, and the deluge in gene- 
ral. Accordingly, no nation is known in which such 
traditions have not been found. They have been very 
industriously brought together by Banier, Bryant, 
Faber, and other mythologists. Our present concern is 
only with the ark. And as it appears that an ark, that 
is, a boat or chest, was carried about with great cere- 
mony in most of the ancient mysteries, and occupied an 
eminent station in the holy places, it has with much 
reason been concluded that this was originally intended to 
represent the ark of Noah, which eventually came to be 
regarded with superstitious reverence. On this point 
the historical and mythological testimonies (as collected 
in the authors to whom we have referred) are very clear 
and conclusive. The tradition of a deluge, by which 
the race of man was swept from the face of the earth, 
has been traced among the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Phoe- 
nicians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Goths, 
Druids, Chinese, Hindoos, Burmese, Mexicans, Peru- 
vians, Brazilians, Nicaraguans, the inhabitants of West- 
ern Caledonia, and the islanders of the Pacific ; and 
among most of them also the belief has prevailed that 
certain individuals were preserved in an ark, ship, boat, 
or raft, to replenish the desolated earth with inhabitants. 
Nor are these traditions uncorroborated by coins and 
monuments of stone. Of the latter there are the sculp- 
tures of Egypt and of India ; and it is not unlikely that 
those of the monuments called Druidical, which bear 



160.] MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. 407 

the name of kistvaens, and in which the stones are dis- 
posed in the form of a chest or house, were intended as 
memorials of the ark. * * * * We shall confine 
our medallic illustrations to the two famous medals of 
Apamea. There were six cities of this name, of which 
the most celebrated was that of Syria; next to it, in 
importance, was the one in Phrygia, called also Kibotos, 
which means an ark or hollow vessel. This latter city 
was built on the river Marsyas ; and there seems to have 
been a notion that the ark rested on the adjoining hills 
of CelaBnae ; and the Sibylline oracles, wherever they 
were written, also include these hills under the name 
of Ararat, and mention the same tradition. The 
medals in question belong, the one to the elder Philip, 
and the other to Pertinax. In the former it is extremely 
interesting to observe that on the front of the ark is the 
name of Noah, in Greek characters. The designs on 
these medals correspond remarkably, although the 
legends somewhat vary. In both we perceive the ark 
floating on the water, containing the patriarch and his 
wife, the dove on wing, the olive branch, and the raven 
perched on the ark. These medals also represent Noah 
and his wife on terra firma, in the attitude of rendering 
thanks for their safety. The genuineness of these 
medals has been established beyond all question by the 
researches of Bryant and the critical inspection of Abbe 
Barthelemy. 

160. Bible History confirmed by Science. — 
Raivlinson. 

There is what may be called the historico-scientific 
argument, derivable from the agreement of the sacred 
narrative with the conclusions reached by those sciences 
which have a partially historical character. Geology — 
whatever may be thought of its true bearing upon other 
points — at least witnesses to the recent creation of man, 
of whom there is no trace in any but the latest strata. 
Physiology decides in favor of the unity of the species, 
and the probable derivation of the whole human race 
from a single pair. Comparative philology, after diver:- 



408 MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. [160, 

fluctuations, settles into the belief that languages will 
ultimately prove to have been all derived from a common 
basis. Ethnology pronounces that, independently of 
the scripture record, we should be led to fix on the plains 
of Shinar as a common centre, or focus, from which the 
various lines of migration and the several types of races 
originally radiated. Again, there is an argument, per- 
haps more convincing than any other, but of immense 
compass, deducible from the indirect and incidental 
points of agreement between the Mosaic records and the 
best profane authorities. The limits within which I am 
confined compel me to decline this portion of the 
inquiry. Otherwise it might be shown that the lin- 
guistic, geographic, and ethnologic notices contained in 
the books of Moses are of the most veracious character, 
stamping the whole narration with an unmistakable air 
of authenticity. And this, it may be remarked, is an 
argument to which modern research is perpetually add- 
ing fresh weight. For instance, if we look to the geo- 
graphy, we shall find that till within these few years, 
" Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar," l 
— Calah and Resen, in the country peopled by Asshur, 2 — 
Ellasar and " Ur of the Chaldees," 3 were mere names ; 
and beyond the mention of them in Genesis, scarcely a 
trace was discoverable of their existence. Recently, 
however, the mounds of Mesopotamia have been searched, 
and bricks and stones buried for near three thousand 
years have found a tongue, and tell us exactly where 
each of these cities stood, and sufficiently indicate their 
importance. Again, the power of Og, and his " three- 
score cities all fenced with high walls, gates, and bars, 
besides unwalled towns a great many," 4 in such a 
country as that to the east of the Sea of Galilee, whose 
old name of Trachonitis indicates its barrenness, seemed 
to many improbable, — but modern research has found in 
this very country a vast number of walled cities still 
standing, which show the habits of the ancient people, 
and prove that the population must at one time have 



^en. x. 10. 2 Gen. x. 11. 12. 

3 Gen. xi. 31. * Dent. iii. 5. 



160.] MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. 409 

been considerable. So the careful examination that has 
been made of the valley of the Jordan, which has 
resulted in a proof that it is a unique phenomenon, 
utterly unlike anything elsewhere on the whole face of 
the earth, tends greatly to confirm the Mosaic account, 
that it became what it now is by a great convulsion ; 
and by pious persons will, I think, be felt as confirming 
the miraculous character of that convulsion. Above all, 
perhaps, the absence of any counter-evidence — the fact 
that each accession to our knowledge of the ancient 
times, whether historic, or geographic, or ethnic, helps 
to remove difficulties, and to produce a perpetual supply 
of fresh illustrations of the Mosaic narrative ; while 
fresh difficulties are not at the same time brought to 
light — is to be remarked, as to candid minds an argu- 
ment for the historic truth of the narrative, the force 
of which can hardly be over-estimated. All tends to 
show that we possess in the Pentateuch, not only the 
most authentic account of ancient times that has come 
down to us, but a history absolutely and in every respect 
true. All tends to show us that in this marvellous 
volume we have no old wives' tales, no " cunningly 
devised fable;" 1 but " a treasure of wisdom and know- 
ledge;" 2 — as important to the historical inquirer as to 
the theologian. There may be obscurities — there may 
be occasionally, in names and numbers, accidental cor- 
ruptions of the text — there may be a few interpolations — 
glosses which have crept in from the margin ; but upon 
the whole, it must be pronounced that we have in the 
Pentateuch a genuine and authentic work, and one 
which — even were it not inspired — would be, for the 
times and countries whereof it treats, the leading and 
paramount authority. It is (let us be assured) " Moses" 
who is still "read in the synagogues every Sabbath 
day;" 3 and they who "resist" him, by impugning his 
veracity, like Jannes and Jambres of old, " resist the 
truth." 4 



1 2 Peter, i. 16. 2 Col. ii. 3. 

3 Acts, xv. 21. * 2 Tim. iii. 8. 



CHAPTER VI. 
161. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS. 

No formal reply to the several objections of infidels 
founded on the supposed inconsistencies between the 
narratives of the evangelists, was attempted in the for- 
mer part of this work, because these objections do not 
touch the question concerning the divine origin of 
Christianity. But since much use is made of them to 
bring the scriptures into disrepute, it will be useful to 
show their utter futility ; and for this purpose they are 
here subjected to a brief examination. 

Objection 1. — Matthew and Luke differ with respect 
to the Annunciation. Matthew says that it was made 
to Joseph ;* Luke that it was made to Mary. 2 

The explanation is very easy. There were two 
annunciations, one made to the Virgin before the con- 
ception, the other to Joseph afterwards. Luke relates 
the former ; Matthew the latter. 

Objection 2. — Matthew and Luke differ in their ac- 
count of Christ's genealogy, 3 and both genealogies can- 
not be true. 

Since men have two parents and four grandparents, it 
is possible for the same individual to have had two, or 
even four genealogies, differing from each other, and yet 
all true. If both Matthew and Luke designed to give 
the genealogy of Joseph, it may be that one has given 
the line through his father, and the other the line 
through his mother. The omission of the mother's 
name is no insurmountable obstacle to the supposition. 
In Matthew's genealogy several names are omitted, as 
may be shown by comparing it with the Old Testament. 
The first verse of Matthew may be translated, " Birth 
Record of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham," 

1 Matt. i. 20, 21. 2 Luke, i. 2G-37. 

3 Matt. i. 1-16 : Luke, iii. 23-38. 

(410) 



161.] &ARMONY Of the gospels. 4il 

Conant's version. Matthew wrote specially for the 
Jews, and it suited his purpose to give a copy of the 
birth-record, such as Jewish families were accustomed to 
keep, better than to make a. full and accurate one by in- 
spiration. 

But enemies of Christianity have furnished a clue to 
what is probably the true explanation. The Jews [see 
quotations in Gill's Commentary on the passage] speak 
of Mary as the daughter of Heli ; and from this it ap- 
pears that Luke's genealogy is that of Mary the mother 
of our Lord, and not that of Joseph his reputed father. 
Both evangelists agree perfectly in the important fact, 
that Joseph was not his real father, and if both have 
given the genealogy of Joseph, the true line of Christ's 
natural descent is now unknown, and it cannot be 
proved that he was of David's seed, according to the 
flesh. Matthew, who wrote for Jews, gave them the 
legal descent through Joseph ; but Luke, who wrote for 
Gentiles, has given the natural descent through Mary. 
If we omit, in Luke's genealogy, the italic words which 
the translators have supplied, it will be seen that little 
more is left than a list of names. The genealogies were 
generally reckoned through the male ancestors, but in 
tracing the line of Christ's natural descent through his 
male ancestors there was a vacancy at the first step, 
because he had no father according to the flesh. This 
vacancy the evangelist has filled with the name of Joseph, 
but has been careful to inform us that this name occu- 
pies the place only by supposition. 

In harmonizing apparently conflicting testimonies, a 
probable conjecture may suffice to show that they are 
not really contradictory. It is not necessary for our 
purpose to decide positively that the above explanation 
is the true one. Other modes of harmonizing have been 
proposed, which are less probable than the above, but 
are nevertheless sufficient to remove the objection. 

Objection 3. — According to one evangelist, John the 
Baptist denied that he was Elias, 1 but according to 
another Jesus affirmed that he was. 2 

1 John. i. 21. 2 Matt. xvii. 12, 13. 

35* 



412 H A R M N Y OF THE GOSPEL S. [161. 

It cannot be pretended that the evangelists contra- 
dicted each other in this case : nor is there any real 
contradiction between John and Jesus. John denied 
that he was literally Elijah risen from the dead. Jesus 
affirmed that he was Elijah in the sense of Malachi's 
prophecy, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet." 1 
The Baptist came "in the spirit and power of Elijah." 
Luke i. 17, and was therefore prophetically called by his 
name. 

Objection 4. — Matthew and John differ on the ques- 
tion whether Jesus was personally known to the Baptist 
previous to his coming to the Jordan for baptism. 2 

Before the commencement of the Baptist's ministry 
he lived in the desert country of Judea, 3 and Jesus lived 
in Nazareth of Galilee. We have no evidence that they 
were personally acquainted with each other. As Jesus 
approached the Jordan to receive baptism, John, proba- 
bly by a prophetic intimation just then given, discovered 
the superiority of his character. This intimation was 
afterwards confirmed by the descent of the Holy Spirit. 
John denies that his knowledge of Christ's character 
was the result of previous personal acquaintance. In 
stating the means by which he obtained this knowledge, 
he did not mention the secret intimation received before 
the baptism, but confined himself to the sign of the 
Spirit's descent, a proof better adapted to produce con- 
viction on the minds of others. With these facts, all 
that is said by both evangelists perfectly harmonizes. 

Objection 5. — The evangelists do not agree in their 
account of the words pronounced from heaven after the 
baptism of Jesus. Matthew : " This is my beloved Son, 
in whom I am well pleased;" 4 Mark: "Thou art my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;" 5 Luke: 
" Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased." 6 

The harmony in sense is perfect : and in a court of 
justice such slight disagreements in words could have 
no effect to invalidate the testimony of witnesses. It 

1 Malachi, iv. 5. 2 Matt, iii. 14 ; John, i. 33. 

3 Luke, i. 80. i Matt. iii. 17. 

5 Mark, i. .11. 6 Luke, iii. 22. 



161.] HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS. 413 

is not probable that the utterance from heaven was in the 
Greek language ; and since all the reports of it which 
we have received are in this language, we may infer that 
in the view of the evangelists and of God who inspired 
them to write, it was of no importance to represent the 
precise sounds which were uttered, if the sense which 
they conveyed was duly expressed. No one will deny 
that the sense is fully expressed by each of the evan- 
gelists, and divine inspiration has not aimed to bind 
down the minds and pens of the sacred writers to an 
unnatural and unprofitable uniformity of expression — 
unnatural, because different minds naturally fall into 
different modes of expressing the same ideas ; and un- 
profitable, because the benefit conveyed proceeds from 
the sense, and not from the sound. If we have the 
sense duly expressed, we have all that can be useful to 
us ; and if we choose to reject this because God does 
not choose to give us the sound as well as the sense, we 
must account to him for our ingratitude and unbelief. 

The preceding remarks may be applied to all the 
cases in which the narratives of the evangelists, while 
agreeing in sense, differ in expression. Several exam- 
ples might be cited ; and among them the superscription 
placed by Pilate over the cross in Hebrew, Greek, and 
Latin. The evangelists differ as to the words of this 
superscription, and it may be that the three forms used 
by Pilate were not exact translations of each other. 
Agreement is seen in all that Pilate or the evangelists 
thought necessary ; and the variety in Pilate's forms 
may have given origin to the variety of expression used 
by the evangelists. To give the expression as well as 
the sense, would have required that the evangelists 
should notice any varieties in the three forms used by 
Pilate : and perhaps to copy all these forms in their 
respective languages. This particularity would have 
answered no valuable purpose. Neither the simple 
honesty of the evangelists, nor the inspiration by which 
they were guided, inclined them to this useless care about 
forms of expression, while intent on the accomplish- 
ment of far higher ends. 

Objection 6. — Matthew says that a centurion went 



414 HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS. [161. 

in person to Christ, 1 and Luke that he sent messengers 
to him. 2 

According to the usage of language, a man is said to 
do what he accomplishes by the agency of others. So 
Pilate is said 3 to have scourged Jesus, but no one under- 
stands that he applied the lash with his own hands. So 
Zebedee's sons are said 4 to have made a request which 
was presented by their mother. 5 

Objection 7. — Matthew gives an account of two demo- 
niacs healed by Christ, 6 when Mark and Luke mention 
but one. 7 

Mark and Luke do not affirm that there was only 
one, and therefore do not contradict the other evangelist. 
It is probable that one of the demoniacs was much more 
prominent in the transaction than the other, who may 
have been a lad or servant. This will account for the 
mention of but one by Mark and Luke. 

Objection 8. — According to Matthew, Jesus foretold 
that he would be in the grave three days and three 
nights, 8 but according to all the evangelists he was in- 
terred late in the evening of Friday, and rose very early 
on Sunday morning. 

The time of the resurrection is variously expressed : 
"in three days;" 9 "after three days;" 10 "the third 
day." 11 

According to our usage these different forms of ex- 
pression do not signify the same thing ; but according 
to Jewish usage in the time of Christ their meaning 
was identical. From 1 Sam. xxx. 12, 13, we know 
that the phrase " three days and three nights" signified 
the same as three days. Jesus used the modes of ex- 
pression which were familiar to his hearers ; and how 
they understood him on this point is clear from the fact 
that the Jews, though they remembered that he had 

1 Matt. viii. 5-13. 2 Luke, vii. 1-10. 

3 John, xix. 1. 4 Mark, x. 35. 

5 Matt. xx. 20. 6 Matt. viii. 28-34. 

7 Mark, v. 1-21 ; Luke. viii. 26-40. 

8 Matt. xii. 40. 9 John, ii. 19. 

10 Matt, xxvii. 63 ; Mark, viii. 31 ; John, ii. 19. 

11 Matt. xvi. 21 ; xx. 19; Mark, ix. 31 ; x. 34; Luke, ix. 22; 
xviii. 33. 



161.] HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS. 415 

said " after three days I will rise again," yet requested 
Pilate to secure the sepulchre "until the third day." 1 

We are under no obligation to account for Jewish 
usage in the computation of time. It is probable that 
they understood by the phrase " three days and three 
nights" three successive periods of twenty-four hours, 
each commencing at sunset. The continuance of Jesus 
in the grave extended to three of such periods. In the 
first, which terminated at sunset on Friday, he was in- 
terred, in the second he rested in the grave undisturbed, 
and in the third, which commenced at sunset of Satur- 
day, he rose. 

Objection 9. — Matthew relates that Jesus opened 
the eyes of two blind men at Jericho : 2 Mark and Luke 
mention but one. 3 Matthew and Mark say that the 
miracle was wrought as Jesus was leaving the city : 
Luke that it occurred as he was approaching it. 

As to the number concerned, the case is like that of 
the demoniacs in Objection 7. Mark and Luke do not 
affirm that there was but one, and therefore do not con- 
tradict Matthew. When one of a company speaks for 
all, it is the usage of language to say that they all 
speak. Matthew describes both of the blind men as 
speaking to Jesus, yet it is most probable that one of 
them was the chief, if not the only speaker, and this is 
the one whom Mark and Luke have particularly men- 
tioned. We are informed that this man's name was 
Bartimeus, and we may infer from this mention of his 
name that he afterwards became well known among the 
disciples of Christ. The other man probably never ob- 
tained notoriety, and may have died soon after Matthew 
wrote his Gospel, or even before. There is no difficulty 
in conjecturing such circumstances as these which would 
naturally lead Mark and Luke to speak of Bartimeus 
only. But whether we state the true cause or not, it is 
certain that they do not contradict Matthew. 

The difficulty as to the place of the miracle may be 
removed by rendering the words of Luke, " When he 

1 Matt, xxvii. 63, 64. 2 Matt. xx. 29-34. 

3 Mark, x. 46-52 j Luke, xviii. 35-43. 
2d 



416 HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS. [161. 

was near Jericho." Examples in which the word has 
this sense a.re found in the New Testament and the Sep- 
tuagint. It is manifest from the narratives of the 
evangelists, that Jesus did not grant the request of the 
blind men on their first outcry to him. If Luke's ac- 
count be taken according to the common translation, it 
may date the transaction from the beginning of the out- 
cry, which may have been as Jesus was entering the 
city, though the favor solicited was not granted until 
he was departing. 

Objection 10. — Mark and Luke say that Christ's 
public entrance into Jerusalem was on an ass's colt 
which had never been ridden before, and which had, in 
obedience to his command, been taken from the place 
where it was found tied. 1 Matthew says that not only 
the colt but its dam also was loosed and brought to 
Jesus, and that the people set him on both. 2 

The account given by Mark and Luke does not con- 
tradict that of Matthew, but is included in it. They 
notice the colt specially, because it was on it that Jesus 
rode, and there was probably special reference to it, 
both in the command of Jesus to bring the animals, and 
in the inquiry of the owner respecting the use to which 
they were to be put, the colt being little adapted to 
use. When both were brought to Jesus, the people laid 
garments on both, that he might ride on either. Per- 
haps they were placed on the dam first ; but removed to 
the colt when Jesus signified his pleasure to ride on it. 
Why he selected the colt we are not informed ; and 
whether any other use was made of the dam than to 
give him an opportunity to make a selection we know 
not. The words " set him thereon" signify that he 
was set on the clothes just mentioned, and not that he 
was set on both of the animals. 

Objection 11. — Mark says that the cock crew once 
before Peter had thrice denied Jesus. 3 Matthew and 
Luke say that he did not crow till afterwards. 4 

In interpreting these accounts of the several evange- 

1 Mark, xi. 1-11 ; Luke, xix. 29, 44. 

2 Matt. xxi. 1-11. 

3 Mark, xiv. 68. 4 Matt. xxvi. 74 ; Luke, xxii. 60. 



161.] HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS. 41 7 

lists, it would violate the usage of language to under- 
stand the phrase "the cock" to denote a particular 
individual. It must include all the species, at least to 
the extent of hearing distance from the place. Even 
in Mark's account there is no necessity for supposing 
that the cock which crew the second time was the same 
that crew the first time. The words of Matthew and 
Luke, " before the cock crow," refer to the general 
crowing, and not to that of one individual. Mark's 
account is more definite, and affirms that not even two 
individuals had crowed. Hence he agrees perfectly 
with the two evangelists, according to the true import 
of their language, that the three denials occurred before 
the general cock-crowing, and he affirms this truth more 
strongly than they, because with more particularity. 
This is a case of real harmony in sense under the ap- 
pearance of contradiction ; and is therefore a clear 
example of undesigned coincidence. 

The circumstance ought not to be overlooked, that 
the most particular account is found in that Gospel 
which was written under the special supervision of 
Peter. The particulars of the sad event were more 
deeply impressed on his mind than on that of any other 
apostle ; and it was hence natural for him to relate them 
with greater regard to minute circumstances. In such 
incidental accordances with nature, proofs may be dis- 
covered confirming the truth of the evangelic history. 

Objection 12. — Luke says that one of the two thieves 
that were crucified with Christ was a penitent : L Matthew 
and Mark say that both of them reviled him. 2 

The supposition that the penitent thief had at first 
united with his fellow-sufferer in reviling Christ, has in 
it no absurdity. He was the subject of an instantane- 
ous and marvellous change, wrought by omnipotent grace, 
and displaying the power of Jesus to save at the moment 
of his deepest humiliation. 

Objection 13. — The evangelists do not aoree with 
respect to the time at which the women came to the 
sepulchre on the morning of the resurrection. Matthew, 

1 Luke, xxiii. 39-43. ' 2 Matt xxvii. -44; Mark, sv. 32. 



418 HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS. [181. 

Luke, and John say that it was early in the morning;, 
and John specifies that it was while it was yet dark ; 
but Mark says that it was at the rising of the sun. 1 

The women, who had engaged to assist each other in 
embalming the body of Jesus, came together from differ- 
ent parts of the city, and arrived in the garden at differ- 
ent times. They who came first stopped at some place 
in the garden, where there were probably prepared seats, 
and waited till the arrival of others, before they pro- 
ceeded to the sepulchre with their spices. But Mary 
Magdalene, who was among these first comers, went 
alone to the sepulchre " while it was yet dark," and saw 
that the stone had been rolled away. The assembled 
company went to the sepulchre at sunrise. With these 
facts all the accounts harmonize. 

Objection 14. — The evangelists disagree with re- 
spect to the number of angels seen in the sepulchre. 
Luke says that there were two: 2 but Matthew and 
Mark mention only one. 3 They disagree also with re- 
spect to the posture : Mark says that he was sitting ; 
Luke that they were standing. 

Luke says that the two angels spoke to the women ; but 
the usage of language authorizes us to understand that 
one of the angels spoke for both. This speaker, it ap- 
pears from Matthew, was the same angel that had been 
sitting on the stone at the mouth of the sepulchre. 
The silent and less prominent angel may have been seer, 
by those women only who entered farthest into the 
sepulchre. Hence Matthew and Mark have said nothing 
of his appearance; but since they do not affirm that 
only one angel was seen, they do not contradict Luke. 

The angels were sitting when first seen ; but arose 
before they addressed the women. This explains the 
difference in the accounts of their posture. 



1 Matt, xxviii. 1 ; Mark, xvi. 1, 2; Luke, xxiv. 1 ; John. xx. 1 

2 Luke, xxiv. 4-8. s Matt, xxviii. 5, 7: Mark, xvi. 5-7, 



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